Czech National Bank Increases Position in Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 458,515 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,474 shares during the period. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $57,447,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth $29,000. Guerra Advisors Inc acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Bridge Generations Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Copia Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $104.91 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $111.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $122.45. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $102.41 and a 52 week high of $139.06. The stock has a market cap of $182.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.20, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly 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. The company 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 17.73%. 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 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, research analysts forecast 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. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 67.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on ABT. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $147.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Citigroup decreased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $154.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Evercore lowered their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $144.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $136.16.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 885 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.58, for a total value of $102,288.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 146,377 shares of the company’s stock, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 value of $81,946.22. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 39,164 shares in the company, valued at $4,526,575.12. This represents a 1.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 3,055 shares of company stock valued at $353,097 in the last ninety days. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.