Abbott Laboratories $ABT Shares Acquired by Ninety One North America Inc.

Ninety One North America Inc. increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 566.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 44,344 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 37,691 shares during the quarter. Ninety One North America Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $5,556,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.5% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 61,614,739 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $8,251,974,000 after buying an additional 1,478,076 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 5.8% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,096,907 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,022,080,000 after buying an additional 821,325 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 51.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,951,907 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,868,718,000 after buying an additional 4,713,135 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.8% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,500,829 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,804,050,000 after buying an additional 499,351 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 7.2% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,900,318 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,727,869,000 after buying an additional 864,531 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.5%

ABT opened at $96.89 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $107.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $118.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.58. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $93.92 and a one year high of $139.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $168.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.79.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.71% and a net margin of 13.90%.The business had revenue of $11.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.09 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. Analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

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 issued 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 dividend yield of 2.6%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.74%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Mary K. Moreland sold 613 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 104,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,053,953.78. This trade represents a 0.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 885 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.58, for a total value of $102,288.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 146,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,918,253.66. This represents a 0.60% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,055 shares of company stock valued at $353,097. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Key Abbott Laboratories News

Here are the key news stories impacting Abbott Laboratories this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Preliminary settlement reached in six shareholder derivative suits tied to Abbott’s U.S. infant‑formula business, reducing litigation overhang for investors. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: New data on Cancerguard MCED (multi‑cancer early detection) presented at AACR 2026 — important for Abbott’s growth thesis since the Exact Sciences deal expanded its oncology diagnostics exposure. Continued clinical progress supports longer‑term revenue upside. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Insiders added roughly $3.1M of stock, and a number of analysts still see upside — some calling the post‑acquisition pullback a buying opportunity given valuation and Abbott’s dividend track record. Read More. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Q1 results: adjusted EPS $1.15 (vs. $1.14 est.) and revenue $11.16B (vs. $10.99B); company set FY 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to $5.38–$5.58 and Q2 guide to $1.25–$1.31, explicitly including ~$0.20 of dilution from the Exact Sciences acquisition. Investors are parsing beat vs. the guidance change. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call transcript and analyst commentary emphasize medical‑device strength offset by Diagnostics/Nutrition softness and acquisition-related margin pressure — useful for active traders but mixed for near‑term stock direction. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction: shares fell after the print because Abbott trimmed guidance and flagged Nutrition weakness and margin compression; coverage shows the takeover (≈$21–23B) is dilutive near term. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Many brokers lowered price targets and some cut forecasts following Q1/guidance — several firms kept positive ratings but reduced targets (examples include RBC, Jefferies, Raymond James, Citi and others), amplifying short‑term selling pressure. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst notes and headlines highlighted the EPS guidance cut and Nutrition slump as primary reasons for the earlier drop — these remain catalysts to watch for the next quarter. Read More.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on ABT. Weiss Ratings cut Abbott Laboratories from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Leerink Partners cut their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $119.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $123.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Daiwa Securities Group cut their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $113.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.00.

Abbott Laboratories 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.