Csenge Advisory Group Cuts Stake in Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Key Points

• Csenge Advisory Group cut its Abbott Laboratories stake by 46.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 12,522 shares and ending with 14,312 shares worth about $1.79 million.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on Abbott, with an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $119.43, though several firms have trimmed their targets recently.
• Abbott reported better-than-expected quarterly results, including EPS of $1.15 and revenue of $11.16 billion, and also maintained a quarterly dividend of $0.63 per share for a 2.8% annual yield.

Csenge Advisory Group cut its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 46.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,312 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 12,522 shares during the quarter. Csenge Advisory Group's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,793,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,719 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $5,850,000 after acquiring an additional 4,755 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.5% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,768 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $648,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. United Bank increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 7.4% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 29,004 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $3,945,000 after acquiring an additional 2,001 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 13.6% during the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 11,894 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,618,000 after acquiring an additional 1,428 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 25.6% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,435,683 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $195,267,000 after acquiring an additional 292,547 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ABT. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $131.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Barclays dropped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $144.00 to $143.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 20th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $137.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $121.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $119.43.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE:ABT opened at $88.81 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $154.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.65. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $81.97 and a one year high of $139.06. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $112.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.39.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.62% and a net margin of 13.90%.The business had revenue of $11.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.99 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.09 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is presently 70.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau bought 2,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $91.50 per share, for a total transaction of $201,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $201,300. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 885 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 value of $102,288.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 146,377 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,918,253.66. The trade was a 0.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 3,055 shares of company stock valued at $353,097 over the last 90 days. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Company Profile

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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