Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Reaches New 1-Year High - Time to Buy?

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $129.85 and last traded at $127.28, with a volume of 11948521 shares. The stock had previously closed at $129.43.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

The company's fifty day moving average is $115.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $113.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $221.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. Abbott Laboratories's quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is 30.85%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ABT. Avestar Capital LLC raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 10,249 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $1,159,000 after buying an additional 1,406 shares during the last quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. now owns 2,329 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 8,445 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $955,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 2,155 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ingalls & Snyder LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 252,851 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $28,600,000 after buying an additional 6,221 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.