Ascent Wealth Partners LLC Reduces Position in Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Key Points

• Ascent Wealth Partners cut its Abbott Laboratories stake by 29.4% in the first quarter, selling 27,145 shares and leaving it with 65,255 shares valued at about $6.7 million.
• Abbott beat quarterly earnings expectations with EPS of $1.31 versus the $1.28 estimate and raised its 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to $5.45-$5.60, while revenue grew 13% year over year.
• Insider buying and analyst sentiment both looked supportive, with CFO Philip P. Boudreau and Director Daniel J. Starks buying shares, and several analysts lifting targets after the results.

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC reduced its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 29.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65,255 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 27,145 shares during the quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $6,700,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Freemont Management S.A. grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 197.2% in the fourth quarter. Freemont Management S.A. now owns 10,700 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $1,341,000 after acquiring an additional 7,100 shares in the last quarter. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $116,580,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 246,586 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $30,931,000 after purchasing an additional 48,286 shares during the period. Net Worth Advisory Group acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $1,366,000. Finally, Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 671,743 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $84,163,000 after buying an additional 13,543 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $100.71 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $175.41 billion, a PE ratio of 32.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $89.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $102.17. 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 has a 12 month low of $81.97 and a 12 month high of $137.49.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.03. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 11.65% and a return on equity of 17.65%. The company had revenue of $12.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Abbott Laboratories has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.380-1.46 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 5.450-5.60 EPS. Research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be paid a $0.63 dividend. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is presently 70.59%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau acquired 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $91.50 per share, for a total transaction of $201,300.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,200 shares in the company, valued at $201,300. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Daniel J. Starks bought 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $92.65 per share, for a total transaction of $926,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,751,103 shares of the company's stock, valued at $625,489,692.95. This trade represents a 0.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Abbott beat Q2 earnings expectations and raised 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to $5.45-$5.60, signaling better profit momentum for the rest of the year. Abbott Reports Second-Quarter 2026 Results and Raises Full-Year EPS Guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Management pointed to stronger second-half demand across multiple businesses, including nutrition, medical devices, diagnostics, and diabetes care, which supports a faster growth profile. ABT Q2 Earnings Call Flags Stronger Second-Half Setup
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts turned more constructive after the results, with JPMorgan, Citi, Piper Sandler, Wells Fargo, TD Cowen, BTIG, and RBC all lifting targets or reaffirming bullish views. These Analysts Increase Their Forecasts On Abbott Following Better-Than-Expected Q2 Results

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Leerink Partners reduced their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $106.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $115.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Abbott Laboratories from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $118.61.

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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