Abbott Laboratories $ABT Shares Sold by Groupe la Francaise

Key Points

• Groupe la Francaise significantly reduced its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 73.4%, selling 19,371 shares, leaving them with 7,012 shares valued at approximately $890,000.
• Abbott Laboratories announced a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share, yielding an annualized dividend of $2.36 with a payout ratio of 29.57%.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Abbott Laboratories, with a target price averaging around $144.47, signaling potential growth opportunities.

Groupe la Francaise cut its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 73.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,012 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 19,371 shares during the quarter. Groupe la Francaise's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $890,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kelly Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter valued at $216,000. Voleon Capital Management LP bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $273,000. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,774 shares during the last quarter. Edge Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Edge Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,530 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $336,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,865,656 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $1,451,032,000 after acquiring an additional 781,264 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on ABT. Evercore ISI increased 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. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $143.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Friday, July 18th. BTIG Research reduced their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $148.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $127.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $144.47.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT stock traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $131.47. The stock had a trading volume of 4,674,515 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,768,399. 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 twelve month low of $110.86 and a twelve month high of $141.23. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $131.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $131.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $228.81 billion, a PE ratio of 16.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.70.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. 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, equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau sold 5,550 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 51,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,862,453.65. This trade represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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.