Abbott Laboratories $ABT Holdings Increased by Welch Group LLC

Welch Group LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 9.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 88,991 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,706 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $9,137,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ABT. American National Bank of Texas increased its position 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 valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Nia Impact Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.2% in the second quarter. Nia Impact Advisors LLC now owns 3,706 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $504,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 815 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $102,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.7% during the third quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,028 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $674,000 after buying an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clayton Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 6,217 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $779,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau purchased 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $91.50 per share, for a total transaction of $201,300.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 2,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $201,300. This represents a ? increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Daniel J. Starks purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $625,489,692.95. This trade represents a 0.15% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $94.02 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $89.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $105.38. The stock has a market cap of $163.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.34, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $81.97 and a one year high of $137.49.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.15 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.09 earnings per share. The firm’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, equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

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 $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Argus dropped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $121.00 to $113.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Benchmark decreased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $118.30.

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.