Abbott Laboratories $ABT Shares Bought by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 8.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,303,321 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 831,746 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.59% of Abbott Laboratories worth $1,379,290,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 109.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Trust Co now owns 29,412 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,939,000 after purchasing an additional 15,394 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 858,834 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $115,032,000 after buying an additional 19,966 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 6.1% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 329,430 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $43,785,000 after buying an additional 18,974 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 20.8% during the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 65,504 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $8,774,000 after acquiring an additional 11,264 shares during the period. Finally, Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.9% during the third quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,255,780 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $168,199,000 after acquiring an additional 70,122 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ABT shares. Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Evercore decreased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $144.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target 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. Leerink Partners reduced their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $119.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group decreased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $113.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $136.37.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 1.8%

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $110.60 on Wednesday. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $105.27 and a 52 week high of $139.06. The stock has a market cap of $192.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.73, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $115.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $124.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 14.72% and a return on equity of 17.73%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $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. On average, analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be given a $0.63 dividend. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 67.74%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, Director Daniel J. Starks bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $108.73 per share, with a total value of $1,087,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 6,738,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $732,711,572.41. This represents a 0.15% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mary K. Moreland sold 613 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.58, for a total transaction of $70,850.54. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 104,291 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,053,953.78. This trade represents a 0.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 3,055 shares of company stock worth $353,097 in the last quarter. Company 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.