Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) had its price target trimmed by Jefferies Group from $50.00 to $47.00 in a report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the healthcare product maker’s stock.

Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) opened at 37.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $56.46 billion and a P/E ratio of 12.93. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $42.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.71. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $36.00 and a 1-year high of $51.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 28th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.01. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.71 EPS. The company earned $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.31 billion. The company’s revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post $2.19 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 13th.

In other news, CEO Miles D. White sold 438,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total transaction of $20,148,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,394,153 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,131,038. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Other large investors recently made changes to their positions in the company. Community Bank & Trust of Waco, Texas bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $1,764,000. Berkshire Asset Management raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Berkshire Asset Management now owns 206,211 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $9,261,000 after buying an additional 2,287 shares during the period. Pure Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Pure Financial Advisors now owns 11,313 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $508,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the period. Renaissance Investment Group raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Investment Group now owns 7,648 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $343,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Evelyn V. Moreno raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Evelyn V. Moreno now owns 76,925 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,455,000 after buying an additional 4,735 shares during the period.

ABT has been the subject of several other research reports. Vetr lowered Abbott Laboratories from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating and set a $50.32 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, December 16th. Zacks Investment Research lowered Abbott Laboratories from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 19th. RBC Capital restated a buy rating on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Saturday, October 10th. Barclays upgraded Abbott Laboratories from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and dropped their target price for the company from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Abbott Laboratories from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 4th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock currently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $48.41.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) is engaged in the discovery, development, manufacture and sale of a range of health care products. Abbott operates in four business segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Vascular Products. The Established Pharmaceutical Products segment includes the international sales of a line of branded generic pharmaceutical products. The Nutritional Products includes the sales of diagnostic systems and tests for blood banks, hospitals, commercial laboratories and alternate-care testing sites. The Diagnostic Products segment includes the sales of a line of adult and pediatric nutritional products. The Vascular Products includes the sales of coronary, endovascular, structural heart, vessel closure and other medical device products.

12 Month Chart for NYSE:ABT

Receive News & Ratings for Abbott Laboratories Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Abbott Laboratories and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.