09:45 AM EDT, 04/17/2024 (MT Newswires) -- CFRA, an independent research provider, has provided MT Newswires with the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows:

We keep our target at $126, 24.3x our 2025 EPS forecast, slightly above ABT's 10-year historical forward P/E average. We up our 2024 EPS view to $4.69 from $4.63, as we raise our estimates for 2H. We keep our 2025 EPS view at $5.19. Abbott reported Q1 EPS of $0.98 vs. $1.03, $0.03 above the consensus. Q1 revenues (+2.2% Y/Y) came close to expectations, $68M below our estimate and $88M above consensus. Strong performance in Medical Devices (+14.2%) counterbalanced the drop in Diagnostics (-17.6% Y/Y) due to the expected decline in Covid-19 test sales. We now expect 2024 total sales to grow 4.5% Y/Y vs. the 8% Y/Y contraction in 2023. The news that Abbott had to recall the Heartmate II and Heartmate 3 ventricular assist systems, due to concerns over potential biological material build up, was the cause of the recent pullback, in our view. We remain bullish on ABT over the long term as we think it will outperform, driven by its innovative diversified health care businesses and strong financial position.