Abbott Laboratories $ABT Shares Purchased by Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC

Key Points

• Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 24.5%, owning approximately $179.89 million worth of the company's stock after acquiring additional shares in Q2.
• Analysts have shown positive sentiment towards Abbott Laboratories, with upgrades from several brokerages, raising the stock's target price to as high as $145.00.
• During the last reported quarter, Abbott Laboratories achieved earnings of $1.26 per share, matching consensus estimates and reporting a year-over-year revenue increase of 7.4%.

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 24.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,338,060 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after acquiring an additional 263,216 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Abbott Laboratories worth $179,889,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Elequin Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Wormser Freres Gestion acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT traded up $1.39 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $137.43. 2,075,673 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,643,089. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.82. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $110.86 and a 52 week high of $141.23. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $130.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $131.12. The company has a market cap of $239.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.69.

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 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 firm had revenue of $11.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. 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 anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is currently 29.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ABT shares. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Mizuho increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. William Blair upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Abbott Laboratories from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $143.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $145.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 51,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,862,453.65. This 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 accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

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.