Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Stock Price Up 0.1% – Still a Buy?

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) shares were up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $120.57 and last traded at $118.71. Approximately 1,593,778 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 5,708,268 shares. The stock had previously closed at $118.60.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ABT shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho increased their target price 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. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price objective on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.67.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.3 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $205.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.08, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $114.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $108.86.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.30%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. 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 currently 66.87%.

Insider Activity

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 shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Counselors Inc. raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.6% in the first quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 53,804 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $6,115,000 after purchasing an additional 844 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 25,662 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,917,000 after purchasing an additional 1,809 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter worth approximately $404,000. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.2% in the first quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 10,517 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,195,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.8% in the first quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,879 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $896,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.