Wedbush Securities Inc. Boosts Position in Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Wedbush Securities Inc. lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 15.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,498 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,342 shares during the quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $6,496,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. IMG Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 759.1% during the 2nd quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 189 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth $29,000. Guerra Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Anfield Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 81.3% in the 2nd quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 232 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Delos Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on ABT shares. Argus reduced their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $150.00 to $140.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $146.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. BTIG Research reduced their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group dropped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $113.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.05.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, Director Daniel J. Starks acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $108.73 per share, with a total value of $1,087,300.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,738,817 shares in the company, valued at $732,711,572.41. The trade was a 0.15% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $113.66 on Thursday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $105.27 and a 1 year high of $141.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $197.64 billion, a PE ratio of 30.55, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.70. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $120.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $126.61.

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, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 14.72% and a return on equity of 17.94%. The firm had revenue of $11.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. The firm’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. On average, analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 15th will be paid a $0.63 dividend. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 67.74%.

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.