Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Up 0.2% - Still a Buy?

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report)'s share price was up 0.2% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $114.77 and last traded at $114.50. Approximately 700,520 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 5,700,284 shares. The stock had previously closed at $114.22.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ABT shares. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $129.67.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.1 %

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 firm has a market cap of $198.44 billion, a PE ratio of 35.54, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $114.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $108.67.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. Research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is presently 68.54%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. LVW Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 8.2% during the first quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 6,016 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $684,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.6% during the first quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 8,544 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $971,000 after buying an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 37.2% during the first quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 42,054 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $4,780,000 after buying an additional 11,392 shares in the last quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.7% during the first quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. now owns 102,879 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $10,895,000 after buying an additional 3,689 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Buffington Mohr McNeal boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the first quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal now owns 93,234 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $10,597,000 after buying an additional 1,695 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.