Ancora Advisors LLC Buys 1,980 Shares of Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Key Points

• Ancora Advisors LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.5%, owning 58,799 shares worth approximately $7.8 million.
• Abbott reported $1.26 earnings per share for the last quarter, matching consensus estimates, with revenues of $11.14 billion, up 7.4% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share, representing an annual yield of 1.8% and a payout ratio of 29.57%.

Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 3.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 58,799 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after buying an additional 1,980 shares during the quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $7,800,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,658,180,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 15,420.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,102,648 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $676,866,000 after acquiring an additional 5,069,771 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 29.2% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,985,797 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $2,120,516,000 after acquiring an additional 3,616,471 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 12.8% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 29,763,415 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $3,948,117,000 after acquiring an additional 3,371,113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 12.8% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 14,451,305 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $1,916,966,000 after purchasing an additional 1,639,954 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau sold 5,550 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 51,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,862,453.65. This trade represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE:ABT traded down $0.67 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $132.27. 5,029,356 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,696,521. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $130.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $131.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.82. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $110.86 and a twelve month high of $141.23. The firm has a market cap of $230.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.69.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.26. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 18.32% and a net margin of 32.43%.The company had revenue of $11.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Abbott Laboratories has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.100-5.200 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 1.280-1.320 EPS. On average, research 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 announced 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 of this dividend 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%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on ABT. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $127.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $141.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 18th. 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 report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $144.47.

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.