Empowered Funds LLC Purchases 109,204 Shares of Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 73.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 257,761 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 109,204 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $26,464,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 67.4% in the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,116,192 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $525,279,000 after acquiring an additional 2,059,108 shares in the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter valued at approximately $180,510,000. Excelsior Advisor Network LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 12.3% in the first quarter. Excelsior Advisor Network LLC now owns 2,614 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 21.7% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 10,262 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,054,000 after purchasing an additional 1,828 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gateway Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 994.2% in the first quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC now owns 23,995 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,463,000 after purchasing an additional 21,802 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.5%

ABT opened at $104.61 on Tuesday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $81.97 and a 1-year high of $137.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $182.20 billion, a PE ratio of 33.85, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $91.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $100.99.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.03. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 11.65% and a return on equity of 17.65%. The business had revenue of $12.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be given a $0.63 dividend. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $144.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $121.00 price target for the company. Benchmark lowered their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group cut Abbott Laboratories from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $92.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $118.61.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.