Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Coverage Initiated at Piper Sandler Companies

Equities research analysts at Piper Sandler Companies assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in a research note issued on Thursday, Stock Target Advisor reports. The brokerage set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price target on the healthcare product maker’s stock. Piper Sandler Companies’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 15.23% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.33.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE ABT opened at $113.69 on Thursday. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $89.67 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.68. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $110.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $108.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $197.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.42, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The business had revenue of $10.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,617,068.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ABT. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

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.