Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Updates Q2 Earnings Guidance

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) updated its second quarter earnings guidance on Wednesday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $1.08-1.12 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $1.12. Abbott Laboratories also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 4.550-4.700 EPS.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ABT shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and issued a $128.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $122.14.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $3.31 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $105.90. The stock had a trading volume of 11,989,763 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,677,624. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $114.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.60. The stock has a market cap of $183.76 billion, a PE ratio of 33.50, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.16. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $89.67 and a 12 month high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.03. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 20.65%. The company had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.48%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the business’s 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 approximately $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of Abbott Laboratories 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,893,715,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 38,966,499 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $4,278,132,000 after acquiring an additional 4,886,954 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 83.1% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,925,012 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $582,924,000 after acquiring an additional 2,235,314 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in 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 valued at $1,573,920,000 after acquiring an additional 1,873,411 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

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.