Ninety One UK Ltd Acquires New Stake in Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Key Points

• Ninety One UK Ltd acquired 2,688,282 shares of Abbott Laboratories (approximately $336.8 million), representing about 0.15% of the company at quarter‑end.
• Abbott beat Q1 estimates with EPS $1.15 and revenue $11.16B but set FY2026 guidance to $5.38–$5.58 and Q2 to $1.25–$1.31, explicitly including roughly $0.20 of dilution from the Exact Sciences acquisition, which along with Nutrition weakness prompted a share sell‑off and analyst price‑target cuts.
• Institutional ownership is ~75.18%; notable moves include Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raising its stake to 1,435,683 shares (~$195.3M), while insiders have modestly sold shares, and Abbott declared a $0.63 quarterly dividend (2.6% yield).

Ninety One UK Ltd acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 2,688,282 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $336,815,000. Ninety One UK Ltd owned approximately 0.15% of Abbott Laboratories at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,719 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $5,850,000 after acquiring an additional 4,755 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. United Bank increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 29,004 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $3,945,000 after buying an additional 2,001 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 13.6% in the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 11,894 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $1,618,000 after buying an additional 1,428 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 25.6% in the 2nd 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 buying an additional 292,547 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Abbott Laboratories

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

• Positive Sentiment: Preliminary settlement reached in six shareholder derivative suits tied to Abbott’s U.S. infant‑formula business, reducing litigation overhang for investors. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: New data on Cancerguard MCED (multi‑cancer early detection) presented at AACR 2026 — important for Abbott’s growth thesis since the Exact Sciences deal expanded its oncology diagnostics exposure. Continued clinical progress supports longer‑term revenue upside. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Insiders added roughly $3.1M of stock, and a number of analysts still see upside — some calling the post‑acquisition pullback a buying opportunity given valuation and Abbott’s dividend track record. Read More. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Q1 results: adjusted EPS $1.15 (vs. $1.14 est.) and revenue $11.16B (vs. $10.99B); company set FY 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to $5.38–$5.58 and Q2 guide to $1.25–$1.31, explicitly including ~$0.20 of dilution from the Exact Sciences acquisition. Investors are parsing beat vs. the guidance change. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call transcript and analyst commentary emphasize medical‑device strength offset by Diagnostics/Nutrition softness and acquisition-related margin pressure — useful for active traders but mixed for near‑term stock direction. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction: shares fell after the print because Abbott trimmed guidance and flagged Nutrition weakness and margin compression; coverage shows the takeover (≈$21–23B) is dilutive near term. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Many brokers lowered price targets and some cut forecasts following Q1/guidance — several firms kept positive ratings but reduced targets (examples include RBC, Jefferies, Raymond James, Citi and others), amplifying short‑term selling pressure. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst notes and headlines highlighted the EPS guidance cut and Nutrition slump as primary reasons for the earlier drop — these remain catalysts to watch for the next quarter. Read More.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Mary K. Moreland sold 613 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 value of $70,850.54. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 104,291 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,053,953.78. The trade was a 0.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Elizabeth C. Cushman sold 263 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 $30,397.54. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 38,573 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,458,267.34. This represents a 0.68% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,055 shares of company stock worth $353,097. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT stock opened at $96.89 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $168.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.14, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.58. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $107.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $118.76. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $93.92 and a 52 week high of $139.06.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $11.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.99 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.90% and a return on equity of 17.71%. Abbott Laboratories's revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm 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. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is currently 67.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore lowered their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $134.00 to $120.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Raymond James Financial lowered their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $121.00.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.