Connors Investor Services Inc. Trims Holdings in Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Connors Investor Services Inc. decreased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 151,622 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 3,995 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories makes up about 1.8% of Connors Investor Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Connors Investor Services Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $20,622,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Avanza Fonder AB increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% in the second quarter. Avanza Fonder AB now owns 168,401 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $22,904,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares during the period. Madrona Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.7% in the second quarter. Madrona Financial Services LLC now owns 1,726 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $235,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 12.4% in the second quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 669,868 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $91,109,000 after acquiring an additional 73,780 shares during the period. SageView Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 18.6% during the 1st quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 18,294 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,427,000 after acquiring an additional 2,873 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 49.8% during the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 1,507,268 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $199,939,000 after purchasing an additional 501,200 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on ABT shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $127.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $144.00 to $142.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $153.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $147.00.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau sold 5,550 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.55, for a total transaction of $746,752.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 51,003 shares of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.2%

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $127.83 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $110.86 and a 52 week high of $141.23. The company has a market capitalization of $222.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $132.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $131.52.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.78% and a net margin of 31.88%.The firm had revenue of $11.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.21 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Abbott Laboratories has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.120-5.180 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be issued 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 payout ratio is 29.57%.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.