Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Trading Up 0.2%

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) rose 0.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $113.38 and last traded at $112.97. Approximately 470,987 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 92% from the average daily volume of 5,784,916 shares. The stock had previously closed at $112.73.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on ABT. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Piper Sandler Companies began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $124.00.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $111.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $108.42. The stock has a market cap of $195.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.72. 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:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.37 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. Research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

Insider Activity

In related 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 value of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

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.