Abbott Laboratories $ABT Shares Purchased by Covea Finance

Covea Finance lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 368,954 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,900 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories makes up 1.5% of Covea Finance’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Covea Finance’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $46,226,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 78,354,270 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $10,656,964,000 after purchasing an additional 689,517 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.5% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 61,614,739 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $8,251,974,000 after purchasing an additional 1,478,076 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth about $3,026,180,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.8% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,096,907 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,022,080,000 after buying an additional 821,325 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 51.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,951,907 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,868,718,000 after buying an additional 4,713,135 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings lowered Abbott Laboratories from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $152.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. BTIG Research decreased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $132.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $136.16.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $105.58 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $105.27 and a 52 week high of $139.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a market cap of $183.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $112.75 and a 200-day moving average of $123.09.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 14.72% and a return on equity of 17.73%. The business had revenue of $11.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Abbott Laboratories has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.120-1.180 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 5.550-5.800 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.63 dividend. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 67.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 585 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.58, for a total value of $67,614.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 24,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,846,504.24. This trade represents a 2.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 885 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.58, for a total value of $102,288.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 146,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,918,253.66. This represents a 0.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,055 shares of company stock valued at $353,097. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.