Cigna Investments Inc. New Reduces Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Cigna Investments Inc. New reduced its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,997 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 395 shares during the period. Cigna Investments Inc. New’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,312,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter worth $28,000. Elequin Capital LP acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter worth $30,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter worth $33,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ABT. William Blair upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $143.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $147.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau sold 5,550 shares of the firm’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 value of $746,752.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 51,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,862,453.65. This trade represents a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of ABT opened at $135.82 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $236.39 billion, a PE ratio of 17.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.69. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $110.86 and a 1 year high of $141.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.82. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $130.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $131.15.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.26. The business had revenue of $11.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.01 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 32.43% and a return on equity of 18.32%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.100-5.200 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 1.280-1.320 EPS. Analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.57%.

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.