Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Sells 67,066 Shares of Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. reduced its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 18.1%, now owning 302,640 shares valued at approximately $40 million.
• Abbott Laboratories reported $11.14 billion in revenue for the recent quarter, exceeding analyst estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share.
• Several brokerages have revised their price targets for Abbott Laboratories, with Evercore ISI raising theirs from $140.00 to $145.00 and maintaining an "outperform" rating.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. decreased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 18.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 302,640 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 67,066 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $40,145,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter worth approximately $1,658,180,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 15,420.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,102,648 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $676,866,000 after purchasing an additional 5,069,771 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 29.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,985,797 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $2,120,516,000 after purchasing an additional 3,616,471 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 12.8% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 29,763,415 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $3,948,117,000 after purchasing an additional 3,371,113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,056,860 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $2,494,851,000 after purchasing an additional 2,060,650 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $131.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,674,515 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,768,399. The business's 50-day moving average price is $131.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $131.33. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $110.86 and a 12 month high of $141.23. The stock has a market cap of $228.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 32.43% and a return on equity of 18.32%. The business had revenue of $11.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Abbott Laboratories has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.100-5.200 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 1.280-1.320 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th were issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $127.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $147.00 to $142.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 18th. Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $141.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Leerink Partners started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, June 16th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $143.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $144.47.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau sold 5,550 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.55, for a total value of $746,752.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 51,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,862,453.65. This represents a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories 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.