Synovus Financial Corp Raises Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Key Points

• Synovus Financial Corp increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.2% during the 1st quarter, owning 160,232 shares valued at $21.25 million.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Wellington Management Group LLP, also increased their stakes significantly, indicating strong institutional confidence in the company.
• Abbott Laboratories reported $1.26 EPS for the last quarter, meeting analyst expectations with a revenue of $11.14 billion, reflecting a 7.4% increase year-over-year.

Synovus Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 2.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 160,232 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after acquiring an additional 3,458 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $21,255,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oak Harvest Investment Services grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 42.6% during the first quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 64,526 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $8,559,000 after acquiring an additional 19,280 shares during the last quarter. ICONIQ Capital LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 23.7% during the 1st quarter. ICONIQ Capital LLC now owns 10,798 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $1,432,000 after purchasing an additional 2,072 shares in the last quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 25.7% in the first quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors LLC now owns 11,374 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,509,000 after buying an additional 2,327 shares during the last quarter. Napa Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter valued at $734,000. Finally, Doheny Asset Management CA acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at $227,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock traded up $0.01 on Thursday, reaching $131.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,669,822 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,768,362. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market capitalization of $228.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.47, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $131.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $131.33. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $110.86 and a 52-week high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.26. The company had revenue of $11.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.01 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 32.43% and a return on equity of 18.32%. The firm's revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. Abbott Laboratories has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.100-5.200 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 1.280-1.320 EPS. Analysts expect 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 was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th were issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is presently 29.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on ABT shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $143.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. William Blair raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $127.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, BTIG Research cut their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $148.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $144.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau sold 5,550 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.55, for a total transaction of $746,752.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 51,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,862,453.65. This represents a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.