Element Capital Management LLC Buys New Position in Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Key Points

• Element Capital Management LLC has acquired 20,216 shares of Abbott Laboratories, valued at approximately $2.68 million, indicating strong interest from institutional investors in the healthcare firm.
• Abbott Laboratories reported earnings of $1.26 per share for the last quarter, meeting analysts' expectations, with a revenue of $11.14 billion, showing a 7.4% year-over-year increase.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share, which reflects an annualized payout of $2.36 and a dividend yield of 1.8%.

Element Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 20,216 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $2,682,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,719 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $5,850,000 after purchasing an additional 4,755 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 152,719 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $17,274,000 after buying an additional 2,774 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 16,925 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $1,914,000 after buying an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 171,826 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $19,435,000 after purchasing an additional 17,747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Research Inc. increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Advisory Research Inc. now owns 11,279 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,276,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.7%

ABT traded up $0.9240 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $131.1940. 4,662,108 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,856,202. The business's 50 day moving average is $131.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $131.24. The stock has a market cap of $228.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.44, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $110.33 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.26. The company had revenue of $11.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. 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, equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau sold 5,550 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 51,003 shares in the company, valued at $6,862,453.65. This trade represents a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ABT. Leerink Partners assumed 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 for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price 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. BTIG Research reduced their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $148.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 18th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $144.47.

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.