Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Reduces Position in Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 5.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 176,556 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 9,344 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $18,127,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 175,556,716 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $21,995,501,000 after purchasing an additional 2,402,408 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,853,782 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $10,004,880,000 after buying an additional 1,627,791 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 63,229,445 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,922,519,000 after buying an additional 1,614,706 shares during the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 12,439.6% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 39,319,009 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $4,926,279,000 after acquiring an additional 39,005,451 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 39,169,239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $4,907,523,000 after purchasing an additional 400,400 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE ABT traded down $0.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $93.97. The stock had a trading volume of 6,911,805 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,569,929. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $103.24. The company has a market cap of $163.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $81.97 and a 52-week high of $137.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.62% and a net margin of 13.90%.The company had revenue of $11.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.09 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Abbott Laboratories has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.380-5.580 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 1.250-1.310 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.59%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau acquired 2,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $91.50 per share, for a total transaction of $201,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,300. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Daniel J. Starks bought 10,000 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $92.65 per share, for a total transaction of $926,500.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 6,751,103 shares in the company, valued at $625,489,692.95. This represents a 0.15% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on ABT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $121.00 to $113.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Argus dropped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $123.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 17th. Benchmark cut their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $118.42.

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.