VELA Investment Management LLC Buys 34,106 Shares of Abbott Laboratories $ABT

VELA Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 164.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,892 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,106 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories comprises approximately 1.1% of VELA Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. VELA Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $4,981,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on ABT. UBS Group lowered their target price 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. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Robert W. Baird began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $121.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $118.00 target price (up from $115.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Friday, July 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $118.67.

Key Stories Impacting Abbott Laboratories

Here are the key news stories impacting Abbott Laboratories this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Abbott’s Instinct continuous glucose sensor is now commercially shipping in the U.S. integrated with MiniMed’s Flex automated insulin-delivery system. The partnership expands Abbott’s presence in diabetes technology and could support sensor adoption and recurring revenue. MiniMed Ships MiniMed Flex With Abbott’s Smallest Instinct Sensor
• Positive Sentiment: Abbott also entered a multiyear agreement with HealthTab to distribute its Afinion 2 point-of-care analyzers through NHS-linked pharmacies in the United Kingdom. The deal may broaden access to Abbott’s HbA1c and lipid-testing products, although financial details were not disclosed. HealthTab Enters Multi-Year Collaboration Agreement with Abbott
• Neutral Sentiment: Abbott agreed to pay approximately $670 million to resolve the Gill case and claims from roughly 2,000 individuals involving specialty formulas for premature infants. The settlement resolves a portion of the litigation, including the appeal of a prior $495 million verdict, reducing uncertainty and potentially avoiding additional legal costs. Abbott denied that its products cause necrotizing enterocolitis and said regulators and medical professionals consider the formulas safe and necessary. Abbott agrees to $670 million settlement of infant formula cases
• Negative Sentiment: The settlement represents a significant cash and earnings cost and does not resolve all potential litigation related to the infant formulas. Investors may continue to assess the scope of remaining claims and the effect on Abbott’s legal reserves and profitability. Abbott reaches agreements to resolve a portion of litigation involving its specialty formulas

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE ABT opened at $116.62 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $201.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.38. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $100.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $100.05. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $81.97 and a fifty-two week high of $137.49.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%.Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. 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. Sell-side analysts predict 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 paid a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.55%.

Abbott Laboratories Profile

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.