The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Decreases Position in Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) by 16.3% in the first quarter, resulting in ownership of approximately $393 million worth of shares.
• Several institutional investors significantly increased their positions in Abbott, with some reporting increases of over 15,000% during the same period.
• Analysts have positive expectations for Abbott Laboratories, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $144.47.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 16.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,963,156 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 576,341 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.17% of Abbott Laboratories worth $393,063,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,719 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $5,850,000 after purchasing an additional 4,755 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its position in 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 during the last quarter. Voleon Capital Management LP bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $273,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 11,753 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $1,329,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the period. Finally, Sulzberger Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth $301,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau sold 5,550 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were 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 $6,862,453.65. This trade represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $127.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock 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. BTIG Research lowered their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $148.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Leerink Partners began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, June 16th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $143.00 target price on the stock. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $144.47.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT traded down $1.36 on Tuesday, hitting $131.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,696,734 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,747,801. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $110.86 and a 12 month 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 firm has a market cap of $228.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.69. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $130.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $131.36.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.26. The business had revenue of $11.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.01 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 32.43% and a return on equity of 18.32%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. Abbott Laboratories has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.100-5.200 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 1.280-1.320 EPS. Analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.