Kovack Advisors Inc. Sells 571 Shares of Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Kovack Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 7,896 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 571 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,074,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE:ABT opened at $123.61 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $215.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.69. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $131.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $131.56. 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 current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.30.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its 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 return on equity of 17.78% and a net margin of 31.88%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.21 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.120-5.180 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.57%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau sold 5,550 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 51,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,862,453.65. This trade represents a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on ABT. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $144.00 to $142.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Benchmark began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Friday, October 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $145.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $146.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.00.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.