Handelsbanken Fonder AB Purchases 124,733 Shares of Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Key Points

• Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its Abbott Laboratories stake by 11.4% in the fourth quarter, buying 124,733 shares and bringing its total holdings to 1,220,202 shares valued at about $152.9 million.
• Several analysts cut price targets on Abbott recently, though most still maintain bullish ratings; the stock currently has a Moderate Buy consensus and a target price of $119.43.
• Abbott reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.15 and revenue of $11.16 billion, and also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.63 per share, equal to a 2.9% annualized yield.

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 11.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,220,202 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after buying an additional 124,733 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned 0.07% of Abbott Laboratories worth $152,879,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. American National Bank of Texas boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. American National Bank of Texas now owns 3,408 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Nia Impact Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Nia Impact Advisors LLC now owns 3,706 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $504,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Connable Office Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Connable Office Inc. now owns 15,042 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $2,015,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 815 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $102,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,028 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $674,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ABT shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 20th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 17th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 17th. BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating and set a $131.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $137.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 17th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $119.43.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Daniel J. Starks purchased 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $92.65 per share, with a total value of $926,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 6,751,103 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $625,489,692.95. This trade represents a 0.15% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 885 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.58, for a total transaction of $102,288.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 146,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,918,253.66. This trade represents 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 worth $353,097 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE ABT opened at $87.82 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $152.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.60, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.65. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $98.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $112.98. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $81.97 and a twelve month high of $139.06. 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 (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 13.90% and a return on equity of 17.62%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $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. As a group, research 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 was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 15th were paid a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is presently 70.59%.

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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