Westerkirk Capital Inc. Buys New Shares in Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Westerkirk Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 18,570 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,526,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 172,800,851 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $23,502,644,000 after purchasing an additional 2,977,715 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 38,293,067 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $5,184,589,000 after buying an additional 1,390,554 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $3,948,117,000 after buying an additional 3,371,113 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at $3,026,180,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 29.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,985,797 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,120,516,000 after buying an additional 3,616,471 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of ABT stock opened at $128.11 on Tuesday. 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 $222.77 billion, a PE ratio of 16.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $129.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $131.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.88% and a return on equity of 17.78%. The company had revenue of $11.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.21 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Abbott Laboratories has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.120-5.180 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on ABT shares. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $146.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. 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 research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Daiwa Capital Markets lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $134.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $149.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Two 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.