Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Price Target Raised to $160.00

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) had its price target increased by analysts at Citigroup from $135.00 to $160.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the healthcare product maker’s stock. Citigroup’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 16.21% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Argus raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.19.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:ABT opened at $137.68 on Tuesday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.23. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $124.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $118.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $238.79 billion, a PE ratio of 18.00, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.75.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $77,651.54. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 31,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,417,294.90. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,282 shares of company stock valued at $3,263,348. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% during the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 557,608 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $63,573,000 after buying an additional 2,754 shares during the last quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.7% in the third quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,209 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,278,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. ASB Consultores LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 23.3% in the third quarter. ASB Consultores LLC now owns 5,346 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $609,000 after purchasing an additional 1,010 shares during the last quarter. United Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at $302,000. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% in the third quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 95,464 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $10,884,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.