Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Given New $148.00 Price Target at UBS Group

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) had its target price hoisted by UBS Group from $146.00 to $148.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the healthcare product maker’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on ABT. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 target price for the company. Finally, Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price target (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, October 14th. 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, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $132.50.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 4.6 %

NYSE:ABT opened at $123.17 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company’s 50 day moving average is $114.91 and its 200-day moving average is $113.08. The firm has a market cap of $213.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $123.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11,029,400 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The business’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 848.8% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 216,337 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $22,480,000 after buying an additional 193,537 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 38,676 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 10,675,827 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,103,997,000 after purchasing an additional 508,524 shares during the last quarter. Dundas Partners LLP raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dundas Partners LLP now owns 330,227 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $34,313,000 after purchasing an additional 6,897 shares during the period. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 6.7% during the second quarter. DSM Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,131 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $949,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.