Abbott Laboratories Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:ABT)

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 92,955 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 948% compared to the typical daily volume of 8,870 call options.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT traded up $0.60 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $124.90. 7,187,180 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,896,229. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $126.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $129.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.70. The company has a market cap of $217.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $110.86 and a 12-month high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30. The business had revenue of $11.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.40 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.88% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The business’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.21 EPS. Research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 15th will be paid a $0.63 dividend. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 29.57%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,026,180,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 13,347.0% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,056,934 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $823,804,000 after buying an additional 6,011,891 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 51.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,951,907 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,868,718,000 after purchasing an additional 4,713,135 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 172,800,851 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $23,502,644,000 after acquiring an additional 2,977,715 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 180.7% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,063,443 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $416,659,000 after purchasing an additional 1,972,097 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ABT shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $146.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $149.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.68.

About Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories is a global healthcare company headquartered in Abbott Park, Illinois, that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of medical products and services. Founded in 1888, Abbott operates through multiple business areas that focus on diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and established pharmaceuticals. The company supplies hospitals, clinics, laboratories, retailers and direct-to-consumer channels with products intended to diagnose, treat and manage a wide range of health conditions.

In diagnostics, Abbott provides laboratory and point-of-care testing platforms and assays used to detect infectious diseases, chronic conditions and biomarkers; its Alinity family of instruments and rapid-test solutions are examples of this capability.