Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Releases Q2 Earnings Guidance

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ABT shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and set a $128.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Raymond James raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $121.54.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $105.90 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.48, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.64. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $107.59. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $89.67 and a 52-week high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.65% and a net margin of 14.27%. The company’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. Analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Abbott Laboratories news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was 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 directly owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,444,480. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. now owns 3,236 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $356,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,275 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Landaas & Co. WI ADV boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Landaas & Co. WI ADV now owns 5,534 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $608,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% during the first quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 20,029 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,371,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Staley Capital Advisers Inc. boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. now owns 26,391 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,897,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.