Abbott Laboratories Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:ABT)

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 26,157 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 116% compared to the average daily volume of 12,104 call options.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41,557 shares during the period. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price objective (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price target on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT traded up $2.55 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $131.65. 2,910,710 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,988,008. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $116.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $114.71. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $131.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $228.34 billion, a PE ratio of 17.21, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

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.