Abbott Laboratories Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:ABT)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Apr 13th, 2023

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT – Get Rating) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors purchased 35,125 put options on the company. This is an increase of 262% compared to the typical volume of 9,690 put options.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, SVP Julie L. Tyler sold 260 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.24, for a total value of $26,842.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,222,103.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 679 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.70, for a total value of $68,375.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 70,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,091,998.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Julie L. Tyler sold 260 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.24, for a total value of $26,842.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,222,103.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,971 shares of company stock valued at $199,140 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ellsworth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 32,368 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,278,000 after buying an additional 2,847 shares during the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 36,701 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,716,000 after buying an additional 885 shares during the last quarter. Piershale Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Piershale Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,103 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $517,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 24,444 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,475,000 after buying an additional 1,924 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Private Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. now owns 16,845 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,706,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. 72.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $136.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 6th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $115.00 in a report on Thursday, March 30th. Raymond James raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $109.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 26th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.88.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.7 %

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $102.56 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $178.24 billion, a PE ratio of 26.23, a P/E/G ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 0.67. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $102.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $104.44. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $93.25 and a 52 week high of $124.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 25th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $10.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.69 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 26.09% and a net margin of 15.88%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.32 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 14th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 13th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 52.17%.

About Abbott Laboratories

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Abbott Laboratories engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and sale of a broad and diversified line of health care products. It operates through the following business segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices. The Established Pharmaceutical Products segment refers to the international sales of a line of branded generic pharmaceutical products.