Czech National Bank Boosts Stake in Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Czech National Bank grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 458,515 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,474 shares during the period. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $57,447,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at about $3,026,180,000. 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 valued at $1,868,718,000 after acquiring an additional 4,713,135 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 180.7% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,063,443 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $416,659,000 after acquiring an additional 1,972,097 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,525,906 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $740,140,000 after acquiring an additional 1,865,250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.5% during the 3rd 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 during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on ABT. Evercore dropped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $144.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $147.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $152.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Leerink Partners decreased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $119.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $136.16.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 709 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.58, for a total value of $81,946.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 39,164 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,526,575.12. This represents a 1.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Elizabeth C. Cushman sold 263 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.58, for a total transaction of $30,397.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 38,573 shares in the company, valued at $4,458,267.34. This trade represents a 0.68% 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 worth $353,097. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $104.91 on Thursday. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $102.41 and a twelve month 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 firm has a market capitalization of $182.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.20, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $111.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.45.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. The business had revenue of $11.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.80 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.73% and a net margin of 14.72%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.34 EPS. 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. Equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.74%.

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.