Joule Financial LLC Invests $675,000 in Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Key Points

• Joule Financial LLC invested $675,000 in Abbott Laboratories by purchasing 4,962 shares in the second quarter, indicating growing institutional interest in the healthcare product maker.
• Several major hedge funds, including Vanguard Group Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., increased their stakes in Abbott, reflecting a strong confidence among institutional investors.
• Abbott Laboratories plans to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share, with an annual yield of 1.8%, contributing to its attractiveness as an investment.

Joule Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 4,962 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $675,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 169,823,136 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $22,527,039,000 after purchasing an additional 1,177,739 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 29,763,415 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $3,948,117,000 after purchasing an additional 3,371,113 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 29.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,985,797 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $2,120,516,000 after buying an additional 3,616,471 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 14,451,305 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,916,966,000 after buying an additional 1,639,954 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,108,416 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $1,738,831,000 after buying an additional 168,095 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau sold 5,550 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $6,862,453.65. This trade represents a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ABT. Leerink Partnrs raised Abbott Laboratories to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Mizuho upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted 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 note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $145.39.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $134.49 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company's 50-day moving average price is $131.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $131.39. The company has a market cap of $234.07 billion, a PE ratio of 16.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.69. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $110.86 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $11.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue 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. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.57%.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.

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