Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Trims Stake in Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA trimmed its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 14,275,582 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 175,723 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,941,622,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Avanza Fonder AB boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% in the second quarter. Avanza Fonder AB now owns 168,401 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $22,904,000 after acquiring an additional 655 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 669,868 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $91,109,000 after purchasing an additional 73,780 shares in the last quarter. Madrona Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter. Madrona Financial Services LLC now owns 1,726 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $235,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 184,269 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $25,062,000 after buying an additional 14,185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% in the second quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 473,057 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $64,340,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ABT. Benchmark began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Friday, October 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $145.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $153.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Barclays increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $159.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $147.00.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $130.59 on Friday. 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $227.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.68. The company’s 50-day moving average is $130.38 and its 200 day moving average is $131.35.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.30. The company 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%.Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.21 EPS. Abbott Laboratories has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.120-5.180 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company 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 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.57%.

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.