First Trust Advisors LP Acquires 810,684 Shares of Abbott Laboratories $ABT

First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 26.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,874,127 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 810,684 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $518,901,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,719 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $5,850,000 after purchasing an additional 4,755 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,768 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $648,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. United Bank raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 29,004 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,945,000 after purchasing an additional 2,001 shares in the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 3,228 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $439,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Soltis Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,620 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,172,000 after buying an additional 788 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $147.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $154.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Daiwa Securities Group reduced their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $113.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $132.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.05.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 1.2%

ABT stock opened at $109.74 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $190.69 billion, a PE ratio of 29.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $105.27 and a 52 week high of $139.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $116.09 and a 200 day moving average of $124.67.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results 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. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.73% and a net margin of 14.72%.The firm had revenue of $11.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. 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. Sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.63 dividend. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.74%.

Insider Activity

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Mary K. Moreland sold 613 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.58, for a total transaction of $70,850.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 104,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,053,953.78. This trade represents a 0.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 709 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.58, for a total transaction of $81,946.22. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 39,164 shares in the company, valued at $4,526,575.12. This trade represents a 1.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 3,055 shares of company stock valued at $353,097. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.