Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Trading Up 0.3% – Time to Buy?

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) shares rose 0.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $113.90 and last traded at $113.79. Approximately 666,238 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 5,687,015 shares. The stock had previously closed at $113.40.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 target price (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler Companies assumed coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.67.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $108.70. The company has a market cap of $199.43 billion, a PE ratio of 35.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

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.