Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC Sells 2,589 Shares of Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Key Points

• Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 16.8%, owning 12,787 shares valued at $1,696,000 after selling 2,589 shares in the first quarter.
• Several hedge funds, including Nuveen LLC and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., increased their holdings in Abbott Laboratories, leading to approximately 75.18% of the stock being owned by institutional investors.
• Abbott Laboratories recently reported a net margin of 32.43% and a revenue increase of 7.4% year-over-year, with earnings per share of $1.26 meeting analyst expectations.

Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 16.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,787 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 2,589 shares during the period. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,696,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased 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 holdings 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 valued at $2,120,516,000 after purchasing an additional 3,616,471 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 14,451,305 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $1,916,966,000 after purchasing an additional 1,639,954 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 168,095 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau sold 5,550 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,862,453.65. The trade was a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $147.00 to $142.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, BTIG Research decreased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $148.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Two equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $144.47.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.1%

Abbott Laboratories stock traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $132.92. 3,286,796 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,085,004. The firm has a market capitalization of $231.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.66, a PEG ratio of 2.52 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. 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 simple moving average is $130.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $131.39.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.26. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 18.32% and a net margin of 32.43%.The business had revenue of $11.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. The firm's 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. On average, equities analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th were given 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 payout ratio is currently 29.57%.

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.