Janus Henderson Group PLC Grows Position in Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 14.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,451,542 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 952,945 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $933,602,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,719 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $5,850,000 after acquiring an additional 4,755 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.5% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,768 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $648,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. United Bank lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 7.4% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 29,004 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,945,000 after acquiring an additional 2,001 shares during the period. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 13.6% in the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 11,894 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,618,000 after acquiring an additional 1,428 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 25.6% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,435,683 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $195,267,000 after acquiring an additional 292,547 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ABT shares. Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 17th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Leerink Partners lowered their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $106.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $122.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Evercore decreased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $134.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $118.30.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 2.5%

NYSE ABT opened at $88.34 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $90.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $107.01. The company has a market capitalization of $153.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.63. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $81.97 and a 52 week high of $139.06. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $11.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.99 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.62% and a net margin of 13.90%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $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. On average, equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.59%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau bought 2,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $91.50 per share, with a total value of $201,300.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 2,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $201,300. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel J. Starks bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $92.65 per share, for a total transaction of $926,500.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 6,751,103 shares in the company, valued at $625,489,692.95. This trade represents a 0.15% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.