PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators Invests $12.37 Million in Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Key Points

• PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators disclosed a new position in Abbott Laboratories, buying 98,749 shares valued at about $12.37 million in the fourth quarter.
• Several other institutional investors also increased or initiated stakes in ABT, and hedge funds and other institutions now own 75.18% of the company.
• Abbott reported quarterly earnings of $1.15 per share, topping estimates, and revenue of $11.16 billion; meanwhile, analysts still rate the stock a Moderate Buy with a consensus price target of $119.09.

PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 98,749 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $12,372,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 548,204 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $68,684,000 after purchasing an additional 12,300 shares during the last quarter. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 208.6% during the fourth quarter. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,160 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 1,460 shares during the last quarter. Petersen Hastings Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $349,000. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 131,090 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $16,424,000 after acquiring an additional 2,432 shares during the period. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 36.0% in the fourth quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 4,337 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $543,000 after acquiring an additional 1,148 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $137.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 17th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $115.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 17th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $119.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Daniel J. Starks purchased 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $92.65 per share, for a total transaction of $926,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,751,103 shares in the company, valued at $625,489,692.95. This represents a 0.15% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Philip P. Boudreau purchased 2,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $91.50 per share, with a total value of $201,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 2,200 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $201,300. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of ABT stock opened at $91.20 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $81.97 and a fifty-two week high of $139.06. The stock has a market cap of $158.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.63. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $92.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $109.31. 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 announced its quarterly 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. 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 analysts' expectations of $10.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.09 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. 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, analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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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