Aviso Financial Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Key Points

• Aviso Financial Inc. increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 9.6% during Q1, acquiring an additional 2,891 shares, bringing its total holdings to 33,006 shares valued at approximately $4.38 million.
• Abbott Laboratories is trading with a current market capitalization of $229.15 billion, and recently reported Q2 earnings of $1.26 EPS, meeting analyst expectations and reflecting a year-over-year revenue growth of 7.4%.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.59, resulting in a 1.8% dividend yield with a payout ratio of 29.57%, further indicating the company's commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Aviso Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 9.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,006 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after acquiring an additional 2,891 shares during the period. Aviso Financial Inc.'s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $4,378,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Elequin Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Wormser Freres Gestion acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau sold 5,550 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the subject of several analyst reports. William Blair upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $127.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. BTIG Research decreased their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $147.00 to $142.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price 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. Two investment 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $144.47.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE ABT traded down $0.4820 on Thursday, hitting $131.9580. The company had a trading volume of 3,979,978 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,828,092. The company has a market capitalization of $229.67 billion, a PE ratio of 16.54, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.70. The company's fifty day moving average price is $131.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $131.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.30. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $110.86 and a 12-month high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $11.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. 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%.

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.