Abbott Laboratories $ABT Shares Purchased by Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.

Key Points

• Cambridge Investment Research Advisors increased its Abbott Laboratories stake by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, adding 39,573 shares and bringing its total holdings to 331,204 shares worth about $41.5 million.
• Abbott reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $1.15 on revenue of $11.16 billion, while also reaffirming FY 2026 guidance and Q2 2026 earnings guidance.
• The company continues to return cash to shareholders, with a quarterly dividend of $0.63 paid in May, equal to an annualized yield of about 3.0%.

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 13.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 331,204 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after purchasing an additional 39,573 shares during the quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $41,497,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 258.7% in the fourth quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 23,713 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $2,971,000 after buying an additional 17,102 shares during the last quarter. Noesis Capital Mangement Corp boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Noesis Capital Mangement Corp now owns 1,966 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $246,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Lawood & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $332,000. Novare Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Novare Capital Management LLC now owns 104,349 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $13,074,000 after purchasing an additional 1,294 shares during the period. Finally, Cauble & Harre Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $404,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Daniel J. Starks purchased 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $92.65 per share, with a total value of $926,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 709 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 39,164 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,526,575.12. This represents a 1.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $115.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $144.00 to $143.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $150.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Leerink Partners decreased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $106.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Two research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $119.43.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $84.49 on Monday. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $81.97 and a one year high of $139.06. The company has a 50-day moving average of $99.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $113.25. The stock has a market cap of $147.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.67, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $11.16 billion during 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 17.62%. The firm's revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.09 earnings per share. 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 expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th were given a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.59%.

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.

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