Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Stock Rated “Moderate Buy” by Wall Street Brokerages

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-eight brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty-one have assigned a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $118.32.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ABT shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, September 18th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised Abbott Laboratories from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $119.00 to $127.00 in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Argus cut Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at about $193,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 6.1% during the third quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 123,625 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $12,218,000 after purchasing an additional 7,105 shares during the period. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the third quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 26,213 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,591,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% in the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 71,876 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,104,000 after buying an additional 2,154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northeast Investment Management boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 4.0% in the third quarter. Northeast Investment Management now owns 84,544 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $8,355,000 after buying an additional 3,224 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Abbott Laboratories

Here are the key news stories impacting Abbott Laboratories this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Abbott began the pivotal CROWN-MV trial for its investigational Cephea Mitral Valve System, designed as a minimally invasive treatment for symptomatic mitral valve disease patients who are ineligible for surgery or transcatheter repair. Successful development could expand Abbott’s structural-heart portfolio, although the device remains investigational and carries clinical and regulatory risk. Abbott initiates pivotal trial for Cephea device
• Positive Sentiment: Industry reports forecast strong expansion in point-of-care diagnostics across South and Central America and continued growth in home INR monitoring. Abbott is listed among the key suppliers, suggesting potential long-term opportunities for its diagnostics business through testing volume, instruments and recurring consumables. South and Central America point-of-care diagnostics market Point-of-care INR testing market
• Neutral Sentiment: Discussion of Abbott’s approaching breakup highlights the potential for value creation through separating businesses, but also raises questions about execution, valuation and how costs and growth prospects will be allocated among the resulting companies. Can Abbott Laboratories Stay Reasonable As Its Breakup Nears?
• Negative Sentiment: Dexcom exceeded expectations and raised guidance, underscoring robust demand for continuous glucose-monitoring wearables but also intensifying competitive pressure on Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre franchise. Stronger execution by Dexcom could weigh on expectations for Abbott’s diabetes-care growth. Dexcom shakes off Abbott-tied malaise
• Negative Sentiment: Argus downgraded Abbott Laboratories, adding a near-term valuation and analyst-sentiment headwind. Abbott Laboratories stock gets downgrade from Argus

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT opened at $106.33 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.99 billion, a PE ratio of 39.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The business’s 50-day moving average is $104.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $102.06. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $81.97 and a 1 year high of $132.02.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The healthcare product maker reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.42. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 9.75% and a return on equity of 17.97%. The business had revenue of $13.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.30 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 15th will be paid a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 15th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.03%.

About Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories is a global healthcare company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of medical products and services. Founded in 1888 by Wallace C. Abbott, the company is headquartered in Abbott Park, Illinois, and serves patients, healthcare providers and consumers in markets around the world.

Abbott operates across four principal businesses: medical devices, diagnostics, nutrition and established pharmaceutical products. Its offerings include glucose-monitoring systems such as FreeStyle Libre; cardiovascular devices, including stents and structural heart products; laboratory and point-of-care diagnostic systems; and branded generic medicines in areas such as gastroenterology, women’s health and cardiometabolic care.

The company’s nutrition portfolio includes infant and pediatric products such as Similac and PediaSure, adult nutritional products such as Ensure, and rehydration products such as Pedialyte.