L & S Advisors Inc Sells 51,016 Shares of Abbott Laboratories $ABT

L & S Advisors Inc lessened its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 73.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,091 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 51,016 shares during the quarter. L & S Advisors Inc’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,461,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 169,823,136 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $22,527,039,000 after purchasing an additional 1,177,739 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 38,293,067 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,184,589,000 after buying an additional 1,390,554 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 12.8% during 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. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted 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 valued at $2,120,516,000 after buying an additional 3,616,471 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.3% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,108,416 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,738,831,000 after acquiring an additional 168,095 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $129.16 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $130.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $131.34. The company has a market capitalization of $224.59 billion, a PE ratio of 16.19, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.68. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $110.86 and a 52 week high of $141.23. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.30. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.78% and a net margin of 31.88%.The firm had revenue of $11.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.21 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Abbott Laboratories has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.120-5.180 EPS. Analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ABT. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. William Blair upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Benchmark started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Friday, October 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $145.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $134.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $147.00.

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.