Stephens Inc. AR Reduces Holdings in Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Stephens Inc. AR trimmed its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 102,973 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 6,959 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $12,901,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 51.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,951,907 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,868,718,000 after purchasing an additional 4,713,135 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth approximately $336,815,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 175,556,716 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $21,995,501,000 after buying an additional 2,402,408 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 51.0% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,525,906 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $740,140,000 after buying an additional 1,865,250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 61,614,739 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $8,251,974,000 after buying an additional 1,478,076 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $84.49 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $99.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $113.35. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $81.97 and a 52 week high of $139.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $147.16 billion, a PE ratio of 23.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.65.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.62% and a net margin of 13.90%.The firm had revenue of $11.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.09 EPS. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue 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. Equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 15th were paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on ABT. Weiss Ratings cut Abbott Laboratories from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $150.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped 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. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group cut Abbott Laboratories from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $92.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $119.43.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 885 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.58, for a total transaction of $102,288.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 146,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,918,253.66. This represents a 0.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel J. Starks bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $92.65 per share, for a total transaction of $926,500.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 6,751,103 shares in the company, valued at $625,489,692.95. This represents a 0.15% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 3,055 shares of company stock worth $353,097 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.