Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.02 EPS

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02, RTT News reports. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT traded up $1.91 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $107.18. 2,181,798 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,650,958. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $89.67 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $114.28 and a 200 day moving average of $107.57.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.31.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the business’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 $55,932.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,223,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 156,444,700 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $17,219,868,000 after purchasing an additional 679,359 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 38,966,499 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $4,278,132,000 after purchasing an additional 4,886,954 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 104,649.4% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,247,436 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,320,866,000 after purchasing an additional 30,218,560 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,893,715,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 14,299,250 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,573,920,000 after purchasing an additional 1,873,411 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.