Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Earns Outperform Rating from Cowen and Company

Cowen and Company reissued their outperform rating on shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in a research note published on Friday, July 14th. Cowen and Company currently has a $55.00 target price on the healthcare product maker’s stock, up from their prior target price of $48.00.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. TheStreet upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a c+ rating to a b rating in a research report on Monday, July 3rd. Jefferies Group LLC decreased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $52.00 to $50.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 18th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a buy rating and issued a $49.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, April 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a buy rating on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, May 15th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $49.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. The company currently has a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of $52.13.

Shares of Abbott Laboratories (ABT) traded down 1.00% during trading on Friday, reaching $49.61. 5,688,266 shares of the company traded hands. The company has a market capitalization of $86.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.48 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $48.78 and its 200 day moving average is $45.04. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $37.38 and a 1-year high of $51.13.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 20th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 15.53% and a net margin of 4.96%. The firm had revenue of $6.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.63 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 24.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post $2.49 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 14th will be given a dividend of $0.265 per share. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 149.30%.

In related news, insider Jared Watkin sold 552 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.97, for a total value of $26,479.44. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 47,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,258,907.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Stephen R. Fussell sold 196,550 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total value of $9,041,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 221,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,188,448. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 201,702 shares of company stock worth $9,301,413 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 37.9% in the first quarter. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY now owns 2,531 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $112,000 after buying an additional 696 shares in the last quarter. Feltz Wealth PLAN Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter worth $112,000. Winfield Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.9% in the second quarter. Winfield Associates Inc. now owns 2,382 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $116,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Advantage Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $120,000. Finally, First Command Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.2% in the first quarter. First Command Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,787 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $124,000 after buying an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.08% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Company Profile

Abbott Laboratories is engaged in the discovery, development, manufacture and sale of a range of healthcare products. The Company operates through four segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products and Vascular Products. Its Established Pharmaceutical Products include a range of branded generic pharmaceuticals manufactured around the world and marketed and sold outside the United States.