Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Releases FY24 Earnings Guidance

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) updated its FY24 earnings guidance on Wednesday. The company provided EPS guidance of $4.55-4.70 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $4.62. Abbott Laboratories also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 4.550-4.700 EPS.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $128.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $122.14.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 2.8 %

NYSE:ABT traded down $3.06 on Wednesday, reaching $106.15. 10,486,820 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,646,895. The firm has a market capitalization of $184.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $89.67 and a 1-year high of $121.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company’s 50 day moving average is $114.57 and its 200-day moving average is $107.60.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.03. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.65% and a net margin of 14.27%. The company had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,223,060. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at $2,223,060. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at $7,315,537.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

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