Childress Capital Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Childress Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 18.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,715 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,221 shares during the quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,049,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter worth about $1,658,180,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 29.2% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,985,797 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,120,516,000 after buying an additional 3,616,471 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 29,763,415 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,948,117,000 after buying an additional 3,371,113 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 14,451,305 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,916,966,000 after buying an additional 1,639,954 shares during the period. Finally, Jensen Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1,221.2% in the 1st quarter. Jensen Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,365,785 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $181,171,000 after buying an additional 1,262,407 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on ABT. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Leerink Partners began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, June 16th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $143.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James Financial reduced their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $141.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $143.00 to $145.00 in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, William Blair upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.22.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE:ABT opened at $133.97 on Wednesday. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $110.86 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $233.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.82. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $131.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $131.22.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $11.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.01 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. The company’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 fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau sold 5,550 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 51,003 shares in the company, valued at $6,862,453.65. This trade represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.