Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Acquires 5,107 Shares of Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 187,799 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 5,107 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $18,560,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth $31,000. Summit Securities Group LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 41.3% during the 2nd quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 404 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 221.6% in the second quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 476 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allied Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth about $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.2%

ABT opened at $103.70 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $81.97 and a 1 year high of $132.02. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $105.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.32. The company has a market cap of $179.45 billion, a PE ratio of 38.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.38.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The healthcare product maker reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.97% and a net margin of 9.75%. The business had revenue of $13.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.30 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 15th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 81.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on ABT shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $112.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. BTIG Research dropped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $134.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $118.32.

Abbott Laboratories News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: New data presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology showed Abbott’s whole-genome sequencing Oncodetect® test delivered a 30% absolute improvement in sensitivity for detecting colorectal-cancer recurrence within two years of surgery. Patients with detectable molecular residual disease also faced a 10.6-fold higher recurrence risk, supporting the test’s clinical value and Abbott’s broader cancer-care strategy. Abbott Oncodetect ESMO data
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo upgraded its stance to “overweight” and raised its price target to $119, while other analysts retained buy or outperform ratings. These targets imply substantial potential upside and suggest Wall Street views the recent pullback as excessive. Wells Fargo rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Abbott’s pacemaker and molecular-diagnostics markets are projected to grow, providing long-term demand opportunities. However, the reports also identify procedure costs, regulatory hurdles, cybersecurity risks and changing disease prevalence as industry constraints. Pacemaker market forecast
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned about Abbott’s lowered 2026 sales-growth outlook. Management cited diabetes-related pricing pressure and weakness in the electrophysiology portfolio, issues that overshadowed a third-quarter earnings and revenue performance that broadly met expectations. Abbott 2026 guidance
• Negative Sentiment: Abbott plans to spin off its approximately $8.5 billion Nutrition business by 2027. Although the transaction could sharpen the company’s focus and unlock value, investors face near-term uncertainty over separation costs, portfolio mix and the growth profile of the remaining business. Abbott Nutrition spin-off
• Negative Sentiment: A comparative study claimed Catheter Precision’s LockeT device outperformed Abbott’s Perclose vascular-closure system. The potential competitive risk appears limited without evidence of meaningful revenue impact, but it adds pressure to Abbott’s medical-device franchise. LockeT and Perclose study

About Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories is a global healthcare company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of medical products and services. Founded in 1888 by Wallace C. Abbott, the company is headquartered in Abbott Park, Illinois, and serves patients, healthcare providers and consumers in markets around the world.

Abbott operates across four principal businesses: medical devices, diagnostics, nutrition and established pharmaceutical products. Its offerings include glucose-monitoring systems such as FreeStyle Libre; cardiovascular devices, including stents and structural heart products; laboratory and point-of-care diagnostic systems; and branded generic medicines in areas such as gastroenterology, women’s health and cardiometabolic care.

The company’s nutrition portfolio includes infant and pediatric products such as Similac and PediaSure, adult nutritional products such as Ensure, and rehydration products such as Pedialyte.