Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Sets New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on the stock from $130.00 to $135.00. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Abbott Laboratories traded as high as $121.67 and last traded at $121.78, with a volume of 5475248 shares. The stock had previously closed at $117.78.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on ABT. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $132.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 848.8% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 216,337 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $22,480,000 after acquiring an additional 193,537 shares during the last quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,131 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $429,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. Alley Investment Management Company LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 136,061 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $14,138,000 after purchasing an additional 8,451 shares during the period. AXA S.A. boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 77.8% during the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 1,383,425 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $143,752,000 after purchasing an additional 605,269 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 871,196 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $90,421,000 after purchasing an additional 38,676 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $114.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $113.08. The stock has a market cap of $211.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11,029,400 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.73%.

Abbott Laboratories Company Profile

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.