VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Buys 77,500 Shares of Abbott Laboratories $ABT

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 903,768 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 77,500 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories accounts for about 0.7% of VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $113,233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at $29,000. Guerra Advisors Inc bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Bridge Generations Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Copia Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $137.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 17th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $150.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 17th. Argus decreased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Benchmark decreased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $121.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $119.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 709 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.58, for a total transaction of $81,946.22. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 39,164 shares in the company, valued at $4,526,575.12. The trade was a 1.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel J. Starks acquired 10,000 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $92.65 per share, for a total transaction of $926,500.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,751,103 shares in the company, valued at $625,489,692.95. The trade was a 0.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,055 shares of company stock worth $353,097. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT opened at $84.34 on Wednesday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $81.97 and a 12-month high of $139.06. The stock has a market cap of $146.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.62, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a 50 day moving average of $100.77 and a 200-day moving average of $114.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $11.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.99 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.62% and a net margin of 13.90%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.09 EPS. 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. On average, equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.59%.

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.