Westpac Banking Corp Purchases Shares of 12,026 Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Westpac Banking Corp acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 12,026 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,091,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Purpose Unlimited Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Portfolio Resources Advisor Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Abound Financial LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Robert W. Baird began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $121.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group cut their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $118.00 target price (up from $115.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $119.50.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $110.48 on Tuesday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $81.97 and a 12-month high of $137.49. The business has a 50 day moving average of $103.06 and a 200-day moving average of $100.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market cap of $191.17 billion, a PE ratio of 35.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.59.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $12.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.52 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.69% and a net margin of 11.65%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.380-1.46 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 5.450-5.60 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th were issued a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.55%.

About Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories is a global healthcare company headquartered in Abbott Park, Illinois, that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of medical products and services. Founded in 1888, Abbott operates through multiple business areas that focus on diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and established pharmaceuticals. The company supplies hospitals, clinics, laboratories, retailers and direct-to-consumer channels with products intended to diagnose, treat and manage a wide range of health conditions.

In diagnostics, Abbott provides laboratory and point-of-care testing platforms and assays used to detect infectious diseases, chronic conditions and biomarkers; its Alinity family of instruments and rapid-test solutions are examples of this capability.