Kentucky Retirement Systems Acquires 18,937 Shares of Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Kentucky Retirement Systems raised its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 17.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 127,655 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after purchasing an additional 18,937 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems' holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $13,106,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 4,755 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,768 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $648,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. United Bank increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 7.4% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 29,004 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $3,945,000 after acquiring an additional 2,001 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC raised its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in 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 valued at $195,267,000 after purchasing an additional 292,547 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Key Abbott Laboratories News

Here are the key news stories impacting Abbott Laboratories this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS reaffirmed a Buy rating on Abbott, supporting the view that the recent pullback has created an attractive entry point. UBS Issues a Buy Rating on Abbott Laboratories
• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen maintained its Buy rating and set a $115 price target, citing a strengthening nutrition franchise and 2026 growth opportunities. Abbott Laboratories Buy Rating Backed by Growth Drivers
• Positive Sentiment: Recent quarterly results exceeded expectations, with earnings and revenue above consensus and year-over-year revenue growth of 13%. Coverage also highlights record results and raised outlooks during the current earnings season. Companies Reported Record Results and Raised Guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to see long-term expansion in diabetes care, oncology diagnostics and heart-care devices, while Erste Group slightly raised its 2027 EPS forecast to $6.06 from $6.05. Abbott Growth Trends
• Neutral Sentiment: Abbott began a roughly 1,000-patient real-world study of its TriClip heart-valve repair system. The study could strengthen adoption, but it also underscores rising competition from Edwards Lifesciences. Abbott Starts TriClip Study
• Neutral Sentiment: A personal-finance article included Abbott among dividend stocks suitable for long-term passive income, but it offered limited new company-specific information. Dividend Stocks for Passive Income
• Negative Sentiment: UBS lowered its price target from $135 to $125 while retaining a Buy rating, signaling somewhat less near-term upside despite continued confidence in Abbott’s fundamentals.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $115.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, BTIG Research upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $118.17.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:ABT opened at $108.15 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $92.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $100.73. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $81.97 and a 1-year high of $137.49. The stock has a market cap of $188.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.00, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.61.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.03. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.65% and a net margin of 11.65%.The company had revenue of $12.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. Abbott Laboratories has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.380-1.46 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 5.450-5.60 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.55%.

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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