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

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth $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 worth $33,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 2.3 %

ABT opened at $132.07 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $229.06 billion, a PE ratio of 17.26, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a 50 day moving average of $116.80 and a 200-day moving average of $114.71. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $132.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ABT. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

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.