Bessemer Group Inc. Sells 213,665 Shares of Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Key Points

• Bessemer Group Inc. reduced its Abbott Laboratories stake by 17.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 213,665 shares and leaving it with 997,765 shares worth about $125 million.
• Abbott beat quarterly expectations, reporting $1.15 EPS on $11.16 billion in revenue, with revenue up 7.8% year over year. The company also reaffirmed guidance for FY 2026 and Q2 2026.
• The stock has weakened recently, opening at $84.49 and trading near its 52-week low, while analysts maintain a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $119.43.

Bessemer Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 17.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 997,765 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 213,665 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Abbott Laboratories worth $125,010,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 175,556,716 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $21,995,501,000 after buying an additional 2,402,408 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.5% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 61,614,739 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $8,251,974,000 after buying an additional 1,478,076 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.8% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,096,907 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $2,022,080,000 after buying an additional 821,325 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 51.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,951,907 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,868,718,000 after buying an additional 4,713,135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.8% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,500,829 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,804,050,000 after buying an additional 499,351 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE:ABT opened at $84.49 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $81.97 and a fifty-two week high of $139.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.16 billion, a PE ratio of 23.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.65. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $99.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $113.35.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $11.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.99 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.62% and a net margin of 13.90%.Abbott Laboratories's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $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. Sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th were paid a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is presently 70.59%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 885 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 $102,288.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 146,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,918,253.66. The trade was a 0.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Mary K. Moreland sold 613 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 transaction of $70,850.54. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 104,291 shares in the company, valued at $12,053,953.78. The trade was a 0.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 3,055 shares of company stock worth $353,097. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ABT shares. Freedom Capital upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 17th. Weiss Ratings cut Abbott Laboratories from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Evercore cut their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $134.00 to $120.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $122.00 to $109.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 17th. Two equities 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, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.

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