Empowered Funds LLC Raises Position in Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,724 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,266 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $6,729,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Elequin Capital LP bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Wormser Freres Gestion purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau sold 5,550 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 51,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,862,453.65. The trade was a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $129.39 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $225.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.69. 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. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $130.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $131.35.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted 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 net margin of 32.43% and a return on equity of 18.32%. The firm 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 company’s revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. 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, research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ABT shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $127.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $143.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Friday, July 18th. BTIG Research reduced their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $148.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.47.

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.