Abbott Laboratories $ABT Shares Purchased by B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG

Key Points

• B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories (ABT) by 3.0% to 1,806,835 shares, worth about $226.5 million and comprising roughly 2.0% of the firm's portfolio (ABT is its 13th-largest holding).
• Abbott slightly beat quarterly estimates with $1.15 EPS and $11.16 billion revenue (up 7.8% YoY), set FY2026 guidance of $5.38–$5.58 EPS, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.63 (about a 2.7% yield).
• Analysts have trimmed price targets despite a consensus "Moderate Buy" (consensus PT ~$119.43), and the stock is trading near its 52‑week low (~$91.6), which may increase near-term downside risk and volatility.

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,806,835 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after acquiring an additional 52,946 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories comprises about 2.0% of B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG's portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG owned about 0.10% of Abbott Laboratories worth $226,498,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Guerra Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Bridge Generations Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Copia Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 585 shares of Abbott Laboratories 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 sale, the vice president owned 24,628 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,846,504.24. This trade represents a 2.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel J. Starks acquired 10,000 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $108.73 per share, with a total value of $1,087,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,738,817 shares of the company's stock, valued at $732,711,572.41. This trade represents a 0.15% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,055 shares of company stock worth $353,097. Insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Key Abbott Laboratories News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Dividend/income stories are drawing buyer interest — multiple outlets highlight a near-3% dividend yield and buy-the-dip arguments for this dividend king, which can attract income-focused investors and support the share price. Abbott Laboratories Just Got Interesting: Dividend Yield Near 3% Signals Opportunity
• Positive Sentiment: Additional buy-the-dip commentary from retail/investor media emphasizes long-term fundamentals and steady dividend cashflow as reasons to accumulate, providing some demand at lower prices. Abbott Laboratories: Buy The Dip On This Dividend King
• Positive Sentiment: UBS reiterated a Buy rating on ABT (despite lowering its price target), which signals continued institutional conviction in Abbott’s longer-term prospects and may cap downside from short-term selling. UBS Sticks to Their Buy Rating for Abbott Laboratories (ABT)
• Positive Sentiment: Sector tailwinds: a large industry report forecasts rapid long-term growth for IoT/connected medical devices — a positive backdrop for Abbott’s device and diagnostics businesses over the next decade. IoT Medical Devices Market Research and Global Forecast Report 2026-2036
• Neutral Sentiment: Options market activity has picked up, prompting speculation of an imminent move; this can amplify intraday volatility but is ambiguous on direction. Is the Options Market Predicting a Spike in Abbott Laboratories Stock?
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage noting ABT as “most oversold” in the healthcare group highlights technical conditions that could prompt short-term rebounds or continued mean reversion — not a definitive catalyst. Abbott is the most oversold healthcare stock as Q1 earnings roll on
• Neutral Sentiment: Heightened investor attention (search/traffic spikes) signals retail/institutional focus but does not predetermine direction; could increase volume and volatility. Investors Heavily Search Abbott Laboratories (ABT): Here is What You Need to Know
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrade: Daiwa cut ABT from Outperform to Neutral and set a $92 PT — this increases near-term selling pressure, especially given the PT is close to current levels. Finviz (Daiwa downgrade)
• Negative Sentiment: Several firms trimmed price targets (Argus, Leerink; UBS also cut its target while keeping Buy) and Barclays lowered expectations — collectively these lower benchmarks reduce upside perception and likely contributed to today's downward pressure. UBS adjusts Abbott price target
• Negative Sentiment: Media stories pointing out ABT trading near 52-week lows — even with analyst optimism — can prompt profit-taking by momentum traders and feed negative sentiment. Wall Street Refuses to Blink: 2 Healthcare Stocks at 52-Week Lows That Analysts Still Love

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 1.0%

ABT stock opened at $91.78 on Thursday. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $91.59 and a 52-week high of $139.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a market cap of $159.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.71, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.79. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $106.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $117.81.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $11.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.99 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.71% and a net margin of 13.90%.Abbott Laboratories's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business 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. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is presently 70.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on ABT shares. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $115.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 17th. Citigroup cut their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $108.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 17th. BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $131.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Friday, April 17th. 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 research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $119.43.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ABT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.