Abbott Laboratories $ABT Shares Bought by Vest Financial LLC

Vest Financial LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 11.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 810,893 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 82,241 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories makes up 1.3% of Vest Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $101,597,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Guerra Advisors Inc acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Bridge Generations Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Copia Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth $38,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president owned 24,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,846,504.24. This trade represents a 2.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 709 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.58, for a total transaction of $81,946.22. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 39,164 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,526,575.12. This trade represents a 1.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,055 shares of company stock worth $353,097. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ABT. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $131.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday. Argus cut their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Evercore cut their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $134.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target 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. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $119.43.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $92.85 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $105.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $116.83. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $90.72 and a 12 month high of $139.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $161.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $11.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.99 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.90% and a return on equity of 17.71%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.09 EPS. 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. As a group, analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.48 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.59%.

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.