Citigroup Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Stock

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) had its price objective boosted by equities research analysts at Citigroup from $135.00 to $160.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the healthcare product maker’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 15.13% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 target price (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, January 27th. Argus raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.19.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT stock traded down $1.25 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $138.97. 3,032,879 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,437,545. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $141.20. The company has a market capitalization of $241.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $123.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $118.10.

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, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV now owns 5,454 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $617,000 after buying an additional 641 shares during the period. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 58,605 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $6,611,000 after purchasing an additional 2,947 shares during the last quarter. GHE LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. GHE LLC now owns 15,190 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,718,000 after buying an additional 718 shares during the period. Cim LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Cim LLC now owns 16,967 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,919,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $83,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.