Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Purchased by Archer Investment Corp

Archer Investment Corp boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 5.5% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,638 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 189 shares during the period. Archer Investment Corp’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $483,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter valued at $27,000. Abound Financial LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE ABT traded up $4.43 on Friday, reaching $124.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,279,654 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,221,979. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $141.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.78. The stock has a market cap of $217.37 billion, a PE ratio of 16.19, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $133.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $129.38.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.89% and a return on equity of 19.01%. The company had revenue of $11.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 34,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on ABT. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $127.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $145.00 price target (up previously from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.79.

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.