Abbott Laboratories $ABT Shares Acquired by VELA Investment Management LLC

VELA Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 164.1% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 54,892 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 34,106 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories comprises 1.1% of VELA Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. VELA Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $4,981,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 9,127.1% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 246,828,861 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $22,397,251,000 after acquiring an additional 244,153,804 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 12,439.6% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 39,319,009 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $4,926,279,000 after purchasing an additional 39,005,451 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth $2,938,892,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth $1,603,607,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth $1,082,524,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.0%

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $108.29 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $104.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.00. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $81.97 and a twelve month high of $137.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $187.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.05, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.03. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 11.65% and a return on equity of 17.69%. The business had revenue of $12.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Abbott Laboratories has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.380-1.46 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 5.450-5.60 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 15th were issued a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 81.55%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on ABT. Wolfe Research upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $109.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. BTIG Research increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $118.00 price objective (up from $115.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Friday, July 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $119.50.

About Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories is a global healthcare company headquartered in Abbott Park, Illinois, that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of medical products and services. Founded in 1888, Abbott operates through multiple business areas that focus on diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and established pharmaceuticals. The company supplies hospitals, clinics, laboratories, retailers and direct-to-consumer channels with products intended to diagnose, treat and manage a wide range of health conditions.

In diagnostics, Abbott provides laboratory and point-of-care testing platforms and assays used to detect infectious diseases, chronic conditions and biomarkers; its Alinity family of instruments and rapid-test solutions are examples of this capability.