Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Updates Q2 2024 Earnings Guidance

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) updated its second quarter 2024 earnings guidance on Wednesday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 1.080-1.120 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 1.120. The company issued revenue guidance of -. Abbott Laboratories also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 4.550-4.700 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on ABT shares. Citigroup lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Raymond James lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and set a $128.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. TheStreet upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Three equities 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 an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $122.14.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT traded down $3.34 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $105.87. 9,542,902 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,637,811. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $89.67 and a 12-month 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 has a market cap of $183.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.50, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.74. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $114.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $107.60.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.19. The company had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.19 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.65% and a net margin of 14.27%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 67.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Abbott Laboratories 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 104,649.4% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 30,218,560 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $1,893,715,000. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 38,966,499 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $4,278,132,000 after acquiring an additional 4,886,954 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 83.1% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,925,012 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $582,924,000 after purchasing an additional 2,235,314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 14,299,250 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,573,920,000 after purchasing an additional 1,873,411 shares in 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.