Daniel Starks Purchases 10,000 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Stock

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Director Daniel Starks bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $108.73 per share, for a total transaction of $1,087,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 6,738,817 shares in the company, valued at $732,711,572.41. The trade was a 0.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $110.86 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $105.27 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23. The company has a market cap of $192.77 billion, a PE ratio of 29.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.70. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $120.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $126.90.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. The firm had revenue of $11.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.80 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 14.72% and a return on equity of 17.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.120-1.180 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 5.550-5.800 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 15th will be paid a $0.63 dividend. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 15th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ABT. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $154.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Argus cut their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $150.00 to $140.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $147.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $152.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.05.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. IMG Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 759.1% in the second quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 189 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Guerra Advisors Inc acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Anfield Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 81.3% in the second quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 232 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Company Profile

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.