Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.03, RTT News reports. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 20.65%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 EPS.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT traded down $3.06 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $106.15. 10,486,820 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,646,895. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $107.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.16. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $89.67 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The company has a market cap of $184.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.50, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 67.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at $2,223,060. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $114,115.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,895,094.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298 in the last three months. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter valued at $131,000. United Bank grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 27,280 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,229,000 after acquiring an additional 1,826 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 813,253 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $96,257,000 after purchasing an additional 15,521 shares during the period. Kinneret Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Kinneret Advisory LLC now owns 19,467 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,304,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares during the period. Finally, Lumature Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 636.2% during the first quarter. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,216 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 1,915 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $128.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.14.

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.