Abbott Laboratories $ABT Holdings Increased by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 22.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,836 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after acquiring an additional 14,031 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $7,063,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Purpose Unlimited Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Portfolio Resources Advisor Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 2.3%

NYSE:ABT opened at $112.92 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $98.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $99.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $195.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.59. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $81.97 and a 1-year high of $137.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.03. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.69% and a net margin of 11.65%.The firm had revenue of $12.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.26 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Abbott Laboratories has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.380-1.46 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 5.450-5.60 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th were issued a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is currently 81.55%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on ABT shares. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $118.00 price objective (up from $115.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Friday, July 17th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $92.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $118.67.

Abbott Laboratories Profile

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.

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