First County Bank CT Lowers Stake in Abbott Laboratories $ABT

First County Bank CT decreased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,065 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 486 shares during the period. First County Bank CT’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $825,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Elequin Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau sold 5,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.55, for a total value of $746,752.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 51,003 shares in the company, valued at $6,862,453.65. This represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $133.62 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.82. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $110.86 and a 1 year high of $141.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $232.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.74, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $131.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $131.16.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.57%.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.