Abbott Laboratories $ABT Shares Purchased by VCI Wealth Management LLC

VCI Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 45.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 27,788 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 8,660 shares during the period. VCI Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,522,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 12,439.6% in the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 39,319,009 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $4,926,279,000 after purchasing an additional 39,005,451 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,938,892,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 217.0% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,522,222 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $566,967,000 after buying an additional 3,780,402 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 303.0% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,429,571 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $454,784,000 after buying an additional 3,330,368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 122.0% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 3,947,686 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $494,610,000 after buying an additional 2,169,184 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Abbott Laboratories

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

• Positive Sentiment: New diabetes-device opportunity: Medtronic has begun shipping its MiniMed Flex insulin pump, which uses an Abbott-made glucose sensor. The launch and accompanying marketing campaign could expand Abbott’s sensor presence in the growing diabetes-care market. MiniMed starts shipping new insulin pump with Abbott-made sensor
• Positive Sentiment: Underlying business remains diversified: Analyst commentary highlights Abbott’s established diagnostics, medical-device and nutrition franchises, along with long-term growth opportunities. Its latest reported quarter also exceeded consensus earnings and revenue estimates, with revenue up 13% year over year. Ken Griffin Just Loaded Up on AbbVie and Abbott
• Neutral Sentiment: Formula litigation clarity: Abbott agreed to pay approximately $670 million to resolve the Gill case and about 2,000 additional necrotizing-enterocolitis claims without admitting liability. The settlement is costly, but it removes uncertainty tied to a large jury award and provides greater visibility into remaining litigation exposure. How Investors Are Reacting To Abbott Laboratories US$670 Million NEC Settlement
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor comparisons are favorable but valuation-sensitive: Articles describe Abbott as a potential long-term healthcare and dividend investment, though comparisons with Envista, Intuitive Surgical, Thermo Fisher and Johnson & Johnson emphasize differing growth, recovery and valuation profiles. NVST or ABT: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?
• Negative Sentiment: Diagnostics growth is uneven: Weaker respiratory-testing demand is offsetting healthy routine testing and approximately 13% growth in cancer diagnostics. This mix could moderate near-term Diagnostics momentum despite strength in higher-growth categories. Here’s What Is Shaping Abbott’s Diagnostics Growth

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $109.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $121.00 to $113.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $118.67.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE ABT opened at $116.70 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $100.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $100.03. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $81.97 and a 12 month high of $137.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $201.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.59.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.03. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 11.65% and a return on equity of 17.69%. The company had revenue of $12.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. Abbott Laboratories has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.380-1.46 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 5.450-5.60 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th were issued a $0.63 dividend. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.55%.

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.