Eastern Bank Grows Holdings in Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Eastern Bank raised its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 35.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 322,469 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 83,626 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $43,859,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 169,823,136 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $22,527,039,000 after acquiring an additional 1,177,739 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 3,371,113 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 29.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 3,616,471 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 12.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,639,954 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,108,416 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,738,831,000 after acquiring an additional 168,095 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau sold 5,550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.55, for a total transaction of $746,752.50. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $127.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $153.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, June 16th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $143.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $146.17.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $132.30 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $110.86 and a 52-week high of $141.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market capitalization of $230.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a 50 day moving average of $132.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $131.56.

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, hitting 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly 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. As a group, analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.57%.

Abbott Laboratories 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.