Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Grows Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Key Points

• Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 21.6%, now owning over 2 million shares worth approximately $275.79 million, making it the firm's 18th biggest holding.
• Analysts have mixed views on Abbott Laboratories, with target price adjustments ranging from $127.00 to $148.00, but the consensus rating is a "Moderate Buy" with a target price of $144.47.
• Abbott Laboratories declared a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share, with a current yield of 1.8% and a payout ratio of 29.57% as of the latest report.

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 21.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,079,091 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after purchasing an additional 368,880 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories makes up approximately 1.0% of Lord Abbett & CO. LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned approximately 0.12% of Abbott Laboratories worth $275,791,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,719 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $5,850,000 after acquiring an additional 4,755 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 152,719 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $17,274,000 after purchasing an additional 2,774 shares during the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 393.4% during the fourth quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 11,742 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $1,328,000 after buying an additional 9,362 shares during the last quarter. Finward Bancorp purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $622,000. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 16,925 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,914,000 after acquiring an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the topic of several research reports. Leerink Partners began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, June 16th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $143.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $143.00 to $145.00 in a report on Friday, July 18th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $141.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 18th. BTIG Research dropped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $148.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, William Blair upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $144.47.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.7%

NYSE:ABT traded up $0.8560 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $131.1260. 1,676,219 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,845,192. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $110.33 and a twelve month high of $141.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.82. The company has a market capitalization of $228.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a fifty day moving average of $131.34 and a 200 day moving average of $131.24.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.26. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 32.43% and a return on equity of 18.32%. The company had revenue of $11.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.01 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. Abbott Laboratories's revenue for the quarter 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, analysts forecast 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. 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 currently 29.57%.

Insider Activity

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

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.