SFE Investment Counsel Buys 8,513 Shares of Abbott Laboratories $ABT

SFE Investment Counsel grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 10.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 90,251 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 8,513 shares during the period. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $8,189,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Freemont Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 197.2% during the 4th quarter. Freemont Management S.A. now owns 10,700 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,341,000 after purchasing an additional 7,100 shares during the period. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $116,580,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 246,586 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $30,931,000 after buying an additional 48,286 shares in the last quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 25.0% during the first quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC now owns 331,920 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $34,078,000 after acquiring an additional 66,422 shares during the period. Finally, North Dakota State Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at about $7,439,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on ABT. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $118.00 target price (up from $115.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Wolfe Research raised Abbott Laboratories from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 13th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $119.50.

Key Headlines Impacting Abbott Laboratories

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

• Positive Sentiment: The FDA authorized Abbott’s Libre Duo 10 Day, the first continuous monitor designed to track both glucose and ketone levels. The device could strengthen Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre ecosystem, help identify rising ketones before diabetic ketoacidosis emergencies, and support compatibility with automated insulin-delivery systems. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen raised its price target for ABT to $135 from $115 and maintained a “buy” rating. The upgrade signals confidence in Abbott’s growth prospects, particularly in continuous glucose monitoring and medical devices. Benzinga article
• Positive Sentiment: Medtronic’s MiniMed Flex insulin pump has begun shipping with an Abbott-made glucose sensor, expanding the potential distribution and application of Abbott’s sensor technology in automated insulin delivery. MedTech Dive article
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent comparisons portray Abbott as a relatively attractive healthcare and continuous glucose monitoring investment, citing valuation, liquidity and price-target upside. These assessments may support sentiment but do not represent new company operating results. Yahoo Finance article
• Negative Sentiment: Abbott agreed to pay $670 million to settle claims that its specialized premature-infant formulas contributed to necrotizing enterocolitis. The settlement removes some litigation uncertainty but highlights continuing legal and financial risks. Insider Monkey article
• Negative Sentiment: Diagnostics growth remains uneven: strong routine testing and 13% cancer-diagnostics growth are being partly offset by weaker respiratory testing demand. This could temper near-term revenue momentum. Yahoo Finance article

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE:ABT opened at $116.12 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $101.15 and its 200 day moving average is $100.09. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $81.97 and a 12 month high of $137.49. The company has a market capitalization of $200.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $12.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.52 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.69% and a net margin of 11.65%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.26 EPS. 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, equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 15th were given a $0.63 dividend. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 81.55%.

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.