Farther Finance Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Key Points

• Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Abbott by 45.4% in Q4 to 62,150 shares (worth $7.79M), and institutional investors now own about 75.18% of ABT stock.
• Analysts have cut several price targets recently but the consensus remains a Moderate Buy with an average target of $134.58; Abbott reported Q4 EPS of $1.50 (in line) and set FY2026 guidance of 5.550–5.800 EPS.
• Company insiders have been net sellers (3,055 shares, ~$353K in the past 90 days), and Abbott declared a quarterly dividend of $0.63 (annualized $2.52, ~2.5% yield) with ex-dividend on April 15 and payable May 15.

Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 45.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,150 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after purchasing an additional 19,410 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $7,787,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ABT. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 51.0% in 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 period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 51.0% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,525,906 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $740,140,000 after purchasing an additional 1,865,250 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $8,251,974,000 after purchasing an additional 1,478,076 shares in the last quarter. Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at approximately $185,640,000. Finally, Credit Agricole S A bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at approximately $175,044,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $154.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Argus cut their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $150.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Evercore cut their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $134.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $132.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $134.58.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 585 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 $67,614.30. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 24,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,846,504.24. The trade was a 2.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 885 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.58, for a total transaction of $102,288.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 3,055 shares of company stock worth $353,097 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of ABT stock opened at $101.55 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.18. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.05 and a 1 year high of $139.06. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $108.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $119.18. The company has a market cap of $176.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.30, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.79.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 14.72% and a return on equity of 17.73%. The company had revenue of $11.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.34 EPS. Abbott Laboratories's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Abbott Laboratories has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.120-1.180 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 5.550-5.800 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is 67.74%.

Abbott Laboratories 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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