Abbott Laboratories $ABT Holdings Lifted by Norris Perne & French LLP MI

Key Points

• Institutional ownership increased: Norris Perne & French LLP MI more than doubled its Abbott stake to 334,455 shares, valued at approximately $33.1 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 75.18% of Abbott.
• Quarterly results met expectations: Abbott reported adjusted EPS of $1.42 and revenue of $13.01 billion, with revenue up 14.5% year over year. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating, though several firms recently lowered price targets.
• Mixed outlook for investors: Abbott declared a quarterly dividend of $0.63 per share, representing a 2.4% yield, but concerns remain about its lowered 2026 sales-growth outlook, diabetes-related pricing pressure and plans to spin off its Nutrition business by 2027.

Norris Perne & French LLP MI lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 112.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 334,455 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after acquiring an additional 176,750 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories makes up about 1.5% of Norris Perne & French LLP MI's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Norris Perne & French LLP MI's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $33,054,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ABT. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,603,607,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,082,524,000. Flossbach Von Storch SE bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth about $902,938,000. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at about $732,788,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 152,563,476 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $13,843,610,000 after purchasing an additional 6,769,518 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ABT. Wall Street Zen upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. UBS Group dropped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $118.32.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.2%

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $103.70 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $179.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.59. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $81.97 and a 1-year high of $132.02. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $105.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $98.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The healthcare product maker reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.42. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 9.75% and a return on equity of 17.97%. The firm had revenue of $13.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.30 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 15th will be issued a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 15th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.03%.

Trending Headlines about Abbott Laboratories

Here are the key news stories impacting Abbott Laboratories this week:

• Positive Sentiment: New data presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology showed Abbott’s whole-genome sequencing Oncodetect® test delivered a 30% absolute improvement in sensitivity for detecting colorectal-cancer recurrence within two years of surgery. Patients with detectable molecular residual disease also faced a 10.6-fold higher recurrence risk, supporting the test’s clinical value and Abbott’s broader cancer-care strategy. Abbott Oncodetect ESMO data
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo upgraded its stance to “overweight” and raised its price target to $119, while other analysts retained buy or outperform ratings. These targets imply substantial potential upside and suggest Wall Street views the recent pullback as excessive. Wells Fargo rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Abbott’s pacemaker and molecular-diagnostics markets are projected to grow, providing long-term demand opportunities. However, the reports also identify procedure costs, regulatory hurdles, cybersecurity risks and changing disease prevalence as industry constraints. Pacemaker market forecast
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned about Abbott’s lowered 2026 sales-growth outlook. Management cited diabetes-related pricing pressure and weakness in the electrophysiology portfolio, issues that overshadowed a third-quarter earnings and revenue performance that broadly met expectations. Abbott 2026 guidance
• Negative Sentiment: Abbott plans to spin off its approximately $8.5 billion Nutrition business by 2027. Although the transaction could sharpen the company’s focus and unlock value, investors face near-term uncertainty over separation costs, portfolio mix and the growth profile of the remaining business. Abbott Nutrition spin-off
• Negative Sentiment: A comparative study claimed Catheter Precision’s LockeT device outperformed Abbott’s Perclose vascular-closure system. The potential competitive risk appears limited without evidence of meaningful revenue impact, but it adds pressure to Abbott’s medical-device franchise. LockeT and Perclose study

About Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories is a global healthcare company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of medical products and services. Founded in 1888 by Wallace C. Abbott, the company is headquartered in Abbott Park, Illinois, and serves patients, healthcare providers and consumers in markets around the world.

Abbott operates across four principal businesses: medical devices, diagnostics, nutrition and established pharmaceutical products. Its offerings include glucose-monitoring systems such as FreeStyle Libre; cardiovascular devices, including stents and structural heart products; laboratory and point-of-care diagnostic systems; and branded generic medicines in areas such as gastroenterology, women's health and cardiometabolic care.

The company's nutrition portfolio includes infant and pediatric products such as Similac and PediaSure, adult nutritional products such as Ensure, and rehydration products such as Pedialyte.

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