Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Trading 0.7% Higher - Time to Buy?

Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) rose 0.7% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $113.61 and last traded at $113.41. Approximately 1,194,049 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 5,733,995 shares. The stock had previously closed at $112.64.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ABT. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Citigroup upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Piper Sandler Companies assumed coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $131.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $124.33.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.3 %

The business has a fifty day moving average of $112.37 and a 200 day moving average of $108.16. The stock has a market cap of $196.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.27, a P/E/G 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The business had revenue of $10.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. Abbott Laboratories's quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 156,467,081 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $17,222,332,000 after acquiring an additional 701,740 shares during the period. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $16,764,000. Garde Capital Inc. increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 1,858 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $205,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 894,797 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $98,490,000 after purchasing an additional 8,224 shares during the period. Finally, BDF Gestion acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $7,651,000. 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.

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