Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group reduced its stake in Abbott by 8.0% in Q4, selling 315,685 shares and ending the period with 3,607,816 shares worth $452,023,000 (about 0.21% ownership).
• Abbott beat Q1 expectations with $1.15 EPS (vs. $1.14) and $11.16B revenue (vs. $10.99B), issued FY2026 guidance of 5.380–5.580 EPS (analysts ~5.48), and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.63 (2.9% yield).
• Company insiders recently purchased shares (including the CFO and a director), while analysts trimmed price targets but the consensus rating remains a Moderate Buy with an average target of $119.43.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 8.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,607,816 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 315,685 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.21% of Abbott Laboratories worth $452,023,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Guerra Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Bridge Generations Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Copia Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $87.59 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $115.97. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $87.29 and a one year high of $139.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.53, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.65.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.90% and a return on equity of 17.62%. The business had revenue of $11.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.09 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.48 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is 70.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau purchased 2,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $91.50 per share, for a total transaction of $201,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,200 shares in the company, valued at $201,300. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel J. Starks purchased 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $108.73 per share, for a total transaction of $1,087,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 6,738,817 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $732,711,572.41. This trade represents a 0.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 22,200 shares of company stock valued at $2,215,100 and sold 3,055 shares valued at $353,097. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $108.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $123.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $121.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Benchmark reduced their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $119.43.

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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