American Century Companies Inc. Decreases Holdings in Abbott Laboratories $ABT

American Century Companies Inc. lowered its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,552,438 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 220,095 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Abbott Laboratories worth $207,934,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,026,180,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 13,347.0% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,056,934 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $823,804,000 after acquiring an additional 6,011,891 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 172,800,851 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $23,502,644,000 after acquiring an additional 2,977,715 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings 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 worth $416,659,000 after acquiring an additional 1,972,097 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 38,293,067 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,184,589,000 after purchasing an additional 1,390,554 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE ABT opened at $116.17 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $201.87 billion, a PE ratio of 31.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.75. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $117.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $125.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.58. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $105.27 and a 52-week high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. The company had revenue of $11.46 billion during 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%.Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.34 earnings per share. 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. Sell-side 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be given 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 2.2%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on ABT. Freedom Capital raised shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Leerink Partners reduced their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $119.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. 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 report on Friday, January 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $147.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Evercore decreased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $144.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.05.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, Director Daniel J. Starks bought 10,000 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $108.73 per share, for a total transaction of $1,087,300.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 6,738,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $732,711,572.41. This trade represents a 0.15% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.