Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Abbott Laboratories Call Options (NYSE:ABT)

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock traders acquired 16,167 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 16% compared to the typical volume of 13,890 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the subject of several research reports. Edward Jones downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.67.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ABT. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth $28,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 4.6 %

NYSE:ABT opened at $118.59 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $206.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $92.43 and a twelve month high of $121.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $114.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.84.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.30%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio 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.