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

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02, RTT News reports. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.65% and a net margin of 14.27%. The business had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $105.90 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market cap of $183.76 billion, a PE ratio of 32.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a 50-day moving average of $114.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $107.59.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,315,537.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 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 $114,115.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,895,094.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $7,315,537.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 104,649.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,893,715,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 15.1% during 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 in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ABT shares. Raymond James upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TheStreet raised Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. 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. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.54.

Abbott Laboratories Company Profile

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.