Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Trading Up 0.6% on Analyst Upgrade

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) shares rose 0.6% during mid-day trading on Friday after Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on the stock from $133.00 to $138.00. Sanford C. Bernstein currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Abbott Laboratories traded as high as $118.59 and last traded at $118.55. Approximately 1,149,241 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 5,703,920 shares. The stock had previously closed at $117.89.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Edward Jones lowered Abbott Laboratories from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Piper Sandler Companies began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $131.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $130.00 price objective on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $129.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Boltwood Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 21,821 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $2,488,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 3,153 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Atwood & Palmer Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 1,478 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $169,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 4,045 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $461,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 11,165 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $1,160,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $207.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.68. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $113.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $108.52.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.54%.

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.