Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Trims Stake in Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lessened its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 186,305 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 51,312 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $24,954,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 172,800,851 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $23,502,644,000 after buying an additional 2,977,715 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 78,354,270 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $10,656,964,000 after acquiring an additional 689,517 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 38,293,067 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,184,589,000 after purchasing an additional 1,390,554 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth $3,026,180,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,177,029 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,792,209,000 after purchasing an additional 68,613 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.7%

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $126.21 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market cap of $219.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a fifty day moving average of $126.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $129.47. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $110.86 and a twelve month high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.30. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 31.88%.The firm had revenue of $11.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.21 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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. On average, analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 15th. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $149.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, November 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $153.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Mizuho upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and four have given 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 $147.47.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.