Optas LLC Purchases 564 Shares of Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Optas LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 9.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,623 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 564 shares during the period. Optas LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $901,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ABT. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Abound Financial LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Elequin Capital LP bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at $30,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.1%

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $134.45 on Thursday. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $110.86 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23. The stock has a market cap of $234.00 billion, a PE ratio of 16.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.69. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $132.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $131.48. 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 released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $11.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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. Research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 29.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI boosted 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. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $143.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $146.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau sold 5,550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.55, for a total value 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. The trade was a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.