Abbott Laboratories’ (ABT) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Raymond James

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by investment analysts at Raymond James in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Stock Target Advisor reports. They currently have a $124.00 price target on the healthcare product maker’s stock. Raymond James’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 15.27% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on ABT. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.50.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $107.57 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market cap of $186.65 billion, a PE ratio of 33.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $114.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.97. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $89.67 and a twelve month high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 13.96%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at $7,315,537.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1,677.8% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 320 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

About Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories, together with its subsidiaries, discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells health care products worldwide. It operates in four segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices. The company provides generic pharmaceuticals for the treatment of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, irritable bowel syndrome or biliary spasm, intrahepatic cholestasis or depressive symptoms, gynecological disorder, hormone replacement therapy, dyslipidemia, hypertension, hypothyroidism, Ménière's disease and vestibular vertigo, pain, fever, inflammation, and migraine, as well as provides anti-infective clarithromycin, influenza vaccine, and products to regulate physiological rhythm of the colon.