Abbott Laboratories $ABT Shares Sold by First Merchants Corp

First Merchants Corp trimmed its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 9.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 49,108 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 4,988 shares during the quarter. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $6,679,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Elequin Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at $30,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at $33,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $134.45 on Thursday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $110.86 and a 1-year high of $141.23. The business has a 50-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 current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The company has a market capitalization of $234.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.85, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.69.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued 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 company had revenue of $11.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau sold 5,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was 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 owned 51,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,862,453.65. This represents a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ABT. Jefferies Financial Group raised Abbott Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $143.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Friday, July 18th. BTIG Research lowered their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $148.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $147.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 18th. William Blair raised Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $146.24.

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.