Bank of America Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Stock

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) had its price target increased by analysts at Bank of America from $133.00 to $150.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the healthcare product maker's stock. Bank of America's target price would indicate a potential upside of 15.13% from the company's previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Abbott Laboratories from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $158.00 price target (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $137.94.

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Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT traded down $2.37 during trading on Monday, reaching $130.29. 6,769,882 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,553,054. The company has a market capitalization of $225.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.03, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $126.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $119.13. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $131,123.33. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,381 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,277,222.77. This represents a 1.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316. Insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,373,461,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 383.1% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,358,698 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $945,453,000 after acquiring an additional 6,628,310 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $635,056,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 25.6% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,319,347 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,518,539,000 after purchasing an additional 2,711,586 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 76,720,429 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $8,746,896,000 after purchasing an additional 2,323,807 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently 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.