Bollard Group LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Bollard Group LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 16.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 79,773 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,206 shares during the quarter. Bollard Group LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $8,191,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Purpose Unlimited Inc. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Portfolio Resources Advisor Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Abound Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, Director Daniel J. Starks bought 10,000 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $92.65 per share, with a total value of $926,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 6,751,103 shares in the company, valued at approximately $625,489,692.95. This represents a 0.15% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 2.4%

ABT opened at $103.13 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $91.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.33. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $81.97 and a 1 year high of $137.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.39. The company has a market cap of $179.63 billion, a PE ratio of 33.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.61.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.03. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 11.65% and a return on equity of 17.65%. The business had revenue of $12.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Abbott Laboratories has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.380-1.46 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 5.450-5.60 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be issued a $0.63 dividend. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 81.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ABT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $121.00 to $113.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $118.61.

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.