Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Purchases 845,610 Shares of Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 333.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,099,203 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 845,610 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $137,719,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,026,180,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 13,347.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 6,011,891 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 51.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,951,907 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,868,718,000 after purchasing an additional 4,713,135 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 180.7% during the second 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 last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 51.0% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,525,906 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $740,140,000 after purchasing an additional 1,865,250 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 885 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.58, for a total value of $102,288.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 146,377 shares in the company, valued at $16,918,253.66. The trade was a 0.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Mary K. Moreland sold 613 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was 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 owned 104,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,053,953.78. This represents a 0.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 3,055 shares of company stock worth $353,097. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler reduced their price target 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. Oppenheimer dropped their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $152.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $169.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Abbott Laboratories from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $136.16.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $104.87 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market cap of $182.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.19, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $112.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.77. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $104.10 and a 1 year high of $139.06.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 14.72% and a return on equity of 17.73%. The business had revenue of $11.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.74%.

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.