First Trust Advisors LP Buys 810,684 Shares of Abbott Laboratories $ABT

First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 26.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,874,127 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 810,684 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.22% of Abbott Laboratories worth $518,901,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Guerra Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Anfield Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 81.3% in the second quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 232 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Bridge Generations Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on ABT shares. William Blair raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Daiwa Securities Group reduced their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $113.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. 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 report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, BTIG Research lowered their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.05.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 885 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.58, for a total transaction of $102,288.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 146,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,918,253.66. The trade was a 0.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mary K. Moreland sold 613 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.58, for a total transaction of $70,850.54. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 104,291 shares in the company, valued at $12,053,953.78. The trade was a 0.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 3,055 shares of company stock valued at $353,097 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $109.74 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $105.27 and a 52-week high of $139.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $116.09 and its 200 day moving average is $124.67. The company has a market cap of $190.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.50, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 14.72% and a return on equity of 17.73%. The firm had revenue of $11.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.34 EPS. 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. Sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be given a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.