SouthState Corp Increases Position in Abbott Laboratories $ABT

SouthState Corp boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 55,407 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,471 shares during the period. SouthState Corp’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $7,536,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,658,180,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 29.2% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,985,797 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,120,516,000 after acquiring an additional 3,616,471 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 29,763,415 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,948,117,000 after acquiring an additional 3,371,113 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 98.6% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,467,896 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $471,669,000 after purchasing an additional 1,721,523 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 12.8% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 14,451,305 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,916,966,000 after purchasing an additional 1,639,954 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau sold 5,550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 51,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,862,453.65. This trade represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $124.62 on Thursday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $110.86 and a 12-month high of $141.23. The company has a market capitalization of $216.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $131.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $131.48.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 17.78%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.21 EPS. Abbott Laboratories has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.120-5.180 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on ABT. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $159.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. William Blair raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $149.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $134.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $147.00.

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.