Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Trading 0% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)’s share price shot up 0% on Tuesday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $143.00 to $149.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Abbott Laboratories traded as high as $118.00 and last traded at $117.67. 598,605 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 5,703,130 shares. The stock had previously closed at $117.65.

ABT has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Citigroup upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the company’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 transaction 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 $25,617,068.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.8 %

The company has a 50 day moving average of $115.20 and a 200 day moving average of $109.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $202.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.87%.

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.