Optas LLC Acquires 564 Shares of Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Optas LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,623 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 564 shares during the quarter. Optas LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $901,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Fluent Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 43.8% in the second quarter. Fluent Financial LLC now owns 31,940 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $4,344,000 after purchasing an additional 9,723 shares during the period. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.9% in the second quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 5,009 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $681,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the period. Narwhal Capital Management raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.2% in the second quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 65,569 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $8,918,000 after purchasing an additional 5,514 shares during the period. Morton Capital Management LLC CA increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 42.1% during the 2nd quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA now owns 3,113 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $423,000 after acquiring an additional 922 shares during the period. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 17,911 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,436,000 after acquiring an additional 818 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $147.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $153.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $127.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $141.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $146.24.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $134.45 on Thursday. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $110.86 and a 52-week high of $141.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $234.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a fifty day moving average of $132.30 and a 200-day moving average of $131.48. 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 (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 32.43% and a return on equity of 18.32%. The company had revenue of $11.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue 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. Equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 29.57%.

Insider Activity

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau sold 5,550 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were 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 owned 51,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,862,453.65. This represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company 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.