Abbott Laboratories $ABT Shares Purchased by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 8.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,218,261 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 92,788 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $163,020,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Charles Schwab Trust Co raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 109.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Trust Co now owns 29,412 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,939,000 after acquiring an additional 15,394 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 858,834 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $115,032,000 after purchasing an additional 19,966 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 329,430 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $43,785,000 after purchasing an additional 18,974 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 20.8% during the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 65,504 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $8,774,000 after purchasing an additional 11,264 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,255,780 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $168,199,000 after purchasing an additional 70,122 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on ABT. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $169.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 2nd. William Blair upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Leerink Partners cut their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $119.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Evercore reduced their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $144.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $155.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Mary K. Moreland sold 613 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.58, for a total value of $70,850.54. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 104,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,053,953.78. The trade was a 0.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.58, for a total value of $67,614.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 24,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,846,504.24. This represents a 2.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,055 shares of company stock valued at $353,097. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $109.74 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $190.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $116.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $124.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $105.27 and a 52-week high of $139.15.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 14.72% and a return on equity of 17.73%. The firm had revenue of $11.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter 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. Equities analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be given 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 67.74%.

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.