VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Purchases 245,400 Shares of Abbott Laboratories $ABT

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 42.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 826,268 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 245,400 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories comprises 0.7% of VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $110,670,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,719 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,850,000 after purchasing an additional 4,755 shares in the last quarter. Calton & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at about $239,000. Betterment LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 23.1% in the first quarter. Betterment LLC now owns 2,486 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $330,000 after acquiring an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 34.8% during the first quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. now owns 3,796 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $504,000 after acquiring an additional 980 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 3,676 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $487,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on ABT. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. William Blair raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Barclays increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $159.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $153.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.00.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $125.83 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $218.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.77, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $126.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $129.75. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $110.86 and a 12 month high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30. The firm had revenue of $11.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.40 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.88% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.120-5.180 EPS. Analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 15th will be paid a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 15th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.57%.

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.