Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Sells 745 Shares of Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. reduced its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 11.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,796 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 745 shares during the quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $788,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Kelly Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter worth $216,000. Edge Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Edge Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,530 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $336,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Avanza Fonder AB increased its holdings 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 valued at $22,904,000 after buying an additional 655 shares during the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 18.6% during the first quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 18,294 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,427,000 after purchasing an additional 2,873 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 49.8% during the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 1,507,268 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $199,939,000 after acquiring an additional 501,200 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Leerink Partners started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, June 16th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $143.00 target price for the company. William Blair upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. BTIG Research decreased their target price 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. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $147.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.22.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT stock opened at $133.62 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $110.86 and a 52-week high of $141.23. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $131.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $131.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $232.56 billion, a PE ratio of 16.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.69. 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 (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26. The firm had revenue of $11.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.01 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 18.32% and a net margin of 32.43%.Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. 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, equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.57%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau sold 5,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were 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 approximately $6,862,453.65. This represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories 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.