William Blair Has Positive Forecast for ABT FY2024 Earnings

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) - Equities researchers at William Blair upped their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Abbott Laboratories in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, October 17th. William Blair analyst M. Kaczor now anticipates that the healthcare product maker will post earnings of $4.67 per share for the year, up from their previous forecast of $4.65. The consensus estimate for Abbott Laboratories' current full-year earnings is $4.66 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Abbott Laboratories' Q1 2025 earnings at $1.10 EPS and Q4 2025 earnings at $1.47 EPS.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 EPS.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler Companies assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $131.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $129.00 price target (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $130.00 price objective for the company. Edward Jones downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $129.67.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of ABT traded up $1.50 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $119.39. The stock had a trading volume of 6,584,435 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,732,088. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $91.64 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The stock's 50 day moving average is $113.97 and its 200 day moving average is $108.52. The firm has a market cap of $207.69 billion, a PE ratio of 37.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is 68.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ABT. BDF Gestion acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at about $7,651,000. Dundas Partners LLP increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% during the second quarter. Dundas Partners LLP now owns 330,227 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $34,313,000 after acquiring an additional 6,897 shares in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $5,634,000. Oak Harvest Investment Services boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 32.7% in the 1st quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 73,651 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $8,371,000 after purchasing an additional 18,131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 40.3% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 49,483 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $5,624,000 after purchasing an additional 14,215 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by 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.