Abbott Laboratories Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:ABT)

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABTGet Free Report) saw unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock traders acquired 16,167 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 16% compared to the average daily volume of 13,890 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value of $16,492,852.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.8% in the first quarter. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,451 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,529,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter worth about $2,688,000. Mission Wealth Management LP lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 15,849 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,801,000 after acquiring an additional 1,994 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 303,668 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $31,767,000 after acquiring an additional 5,817 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.9% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 610,006 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $69,333,000 after purchasing an additional 22,907 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE ABT traded up $5.37 on Friday, hitting $118.74. 5,576,652 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,704,344. The firm has a market cap of $206.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $114.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $108.78. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $92.43 and a fifty-two week 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.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABTGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.30% and a net margin of 13.99%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on ABT. Piper Sandler Companies began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price target (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.67.

Check Out Our Latest Report on Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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