Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Makes New Investment in Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 21,796 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,919,000. Abbott Laboratories comprises about 1.5% of Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Trust Co grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 109.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Trust Co now owns 29,412 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,939,000 after acquiring an additional 15,394 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.4% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 858,834 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $115,032,000 after purchasing an additional 19,966 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 20.8% during the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 65,504 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $8,774,000 after purchasing an additional 11,264 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 6.1% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 329,430 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $43,785,000 after buying an additional 18,974 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mawer Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.9% in the third quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,255,780 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $168,199,000 after buying an additional 70,122 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Abbott Laboratories this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst/bullish research: A Seeking Alpha piece argues Abbott’s recent pullback is a buying opportunity, citing attractive profitable-growth characteristics and positioning for recovery. Abbott’s Meltdown Is Worth Buying
• Positive Sentiment: Income and steady growth pitch: The Motley Fool highlights Abbott as a steady income stock with double‑digit earnings growth and a dependable dividend, supporting longer-term total‑return appeal. Forget Tilray: This Steady Income Stock Beats Wild Cannabis Swings Every Time
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation snapshot shows mixed signals: A Yahoo Finance valuation piece notes short‑term momentum has been weak and longer‑term returns negative, leaving conflicting “fair value” signals for investors to reconcile. Assessing Abbott Laboratories (ABT) Valuation
• Neutral Sentiment: Peer comparison: Coverage comparing Abbott to Intuitive Surgical frames Abbott as the steadier, dividend‑paying medtech pick, while Intuitive may offer higher growth from procedural/robotics expansion — useful for portfolio allocation but not an immediate earnings shock. Intuitive Surgical or Abbott: Which MedTech Stock Is a Better Bet Now?
• Neutral Sentiment: Sector noise from diagnostics peers: A large drop in Grail’s stock after trial updates is creating headline risk for diagnostics names; this may press sentiment in the broader diagnostics/medtech complex but does not directly change Abbott’s fundamentals. Grail’s Stock Dropped 50% on Friday
• Negative Sentiment: Underperformance and analyst skepticism: Multiple pieces note ABT has underperformed the Nasdaq and that some research houses have trimmed price targets and flagged execution/earnings-translation risk — pressure that can weigh on sentiment until clarity on growth drivers. Is Abbott Laboratories Stock Underperforming the Nasdaq?
• Negative Sentiment: Split analyst views driving volatility: A market narrative piece documents a wide range of recent price‑target moves (some cuts, at least one raise into the mid‑$150s), leaving investors with conflicting signals and more volatile price action. How The Evolving Wall Street Narrative Is Reframing Abbott Laboratories (ABT) Valuation Prospects

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on ABT. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $154.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Freedom Capital raised shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.05.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $116.21 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $201.94 billion, a PE ratio of 31.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.75. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $105.27 and a 12-month high of $141.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $117.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $125.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. The firm had revenue of $11.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.80 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 14.72% and a return on equity of 17.73%. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm 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. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.74%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, Director Daniel J. Starks bought 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were bought 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 directly owned 6,738,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $732,711,572.41. This trade represents a 0.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

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.