Ascentis Independent Advisors Grows Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Ascentis Independent Advisors grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 132.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,945 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after acquiring an additional 10,792 shares during the period. Ascentis Independent Advisors' holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,945,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ABT. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 12,439.6% in the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 39,319,009 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $4,926,279,000 after buying an additional 39,005,451 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,938,892,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,951,907 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,868,718,000 after acquiring an additional 4,713,135 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 303.0% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,429,571 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $454,784,000 after acquiring an additional 3,330,368 shares during the period. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $336,815,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau acquired 2,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $91.50 per share, with a total value of $201,300.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,200 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $201,300. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase 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 dated Monday, April 27th. The shares were acquired at an average price 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 in the company, valued at approximately $625,489,692.95. This represents a 0.15% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.3%

ABT opened at $95.64 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $166.59 billion, a PE ratio of 26.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $104.18. 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 has a 52 week low of $81.97 and a 52 week high of $137.49.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business 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. Analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on ABT. Robert W. Baird started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. They set an "outperform" rating and a $121.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $123.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $121.00 to $113.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Leerink Partners cut their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $106.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $118.42.

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.