Candriam S.C.A. Raises Stake in Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Candriam S.C.A. grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 12.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,172,360 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 125,477 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories accounts for approximately 0.8% of Candriam S.C.A.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $157,026,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,026,180,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 13,347.0% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,056,934 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $823,804,000 after acquiring an additional 6,011,891 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 172,800,851 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $23,502,644,000 after purchasing an additional 2,977,715 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 180.7% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,063,443 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $416,659,000 after purchasing an additional 1,972,097 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 98.6% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,467,896 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $471,669,000 after buying an additional 1,721,523 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Freedom Capital raised Abbott Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $155.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $152.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $132.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.05.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT stock opened at $110.86 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $120.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $126.91. The firm has a market cap of $192.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.80, a PEG 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. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $105.27 and a 1 year high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued 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 business had revenue of $11.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.80 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.94% and a net margin of 14.72%.The business’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $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. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 67.74%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Daniel J. Starks bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $108.73 per share, for a total transaction of $1,087,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories 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.