Abbott Laboratories $ABT Stock Holdings Lowered by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,917,627 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 97,462 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $189,519,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,603,607,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,082,524,000. Flossbach Von Storch SE acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at about $902,938,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at about $732,788,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.6% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 152,563,476 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $13,843,610,000 after purchasing an additional 6,769,518 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ABT shares. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised Abbott Laboratories from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $119.00 to $127.00 in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Abbott Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $118.32.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.7%

NYSE:ABT opened at $106.33 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $104.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $102.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $81.97 and a 1-year high of $132.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.68, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.59.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The healthcare product maker reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.42. The company had revenue of $13.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.99 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 9.75% and a return on equity of 17.97%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.30 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 15th will be given a $0.63 dividend. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.03%.

Key Headlines Impacting Abbott Laboratories

Here are the key news stories impacting Abbott Laboratories this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Abbott began the pivotal CROWN-MV trial for its investigational Cephea Mitral Valve System, designed as a minimally invasive treatment for symptomatic mitral valve disease patients who are ineligible for surgery or transcatheter repair. Successful development could expand Abbott’s structural-heart portfolio, although the device remains investigational and carries clinical and regulatory risk. Abbott initiates pivotal trial for Cephea device
• Positive Sentiment: Industry reports forecast strong expansion in point-of-care diagnostics across South and Central America and continued growth in home INR monitoring. Abbott is listed among the key suppliers, suggesting potential long-term opportunities for its diagnostics business through testing volume, instruments and recurring consumables. South and Central America point-of-care diagnostics market Point-of-care INR testing market
• Neutral Sentiment: Discussion of Abbott’s approaching breakup highlights the potential for value creation through separating businesses, but also raises questions about execution, valuation and how costs and growth prospects will be allocated among the resulting companies. Can Abbott Laboratories Stay Reasonable As Its Breakup Nears?
• Negative Sentiment: Dexcom exceeded expectations and raised guidance, underscoring robust demand for continuous glucose-monitoring wearables but also intensifying competitive pressure on Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre franchise. Stronger execution by Dexcom could weigh on expectations for Abbott’s diabetes-care growth. Dexcom shakes off Abbott-tied malaise
• Negative Sentiment: Argus downgraded Abbott Laboratories, adding a near-term valuation and analyst-sentiment headwind. Abbott Laboratories stock gets downgrade from Argus

Abbott Laboratories Company Profile

Abbott Laboratories is a global healthcare company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of medical products and services. Founded in 1888 by Wallace C. Abbott, the company is headquartered in Abbott Park, Illinois, and serves patients, healthcare providers and consumers in markets around the world.

Abbott operates across four principal businesses: medical devices, diagnostics, nutrition and established pharmaceutical products. Its offerings include glucose-monitoring systems such as FreeStyle Libre; cardiovascular devices, including stents and structural heart products; laboratory and point-of-care diagnostic systems; and branded generic medicines in areas such as gastroenterology, women’s health and cardiometabolic care.

The company’s nutrition portfolio includes infant and pediatric products such as Similac and PediaSure, adult nutritional products such as Ensure, and rehydration products such as Pedialyte.