Abbott Laboratories $ABT Stock: Vest Financial LLC Cuts Position

Vest Financial LLC reduced its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 671,539 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 134,098 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $66,368,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Parkway Wealth Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Parkway Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 3,208 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 9,859 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $895,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.7% during the third quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,186 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $611,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% during the third quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 8,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $835,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.1% during the third quarter. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. now owns 9,562 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $945,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ABT. Piper Sandler restated 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. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised Abbott Laboratories from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $119.00 to $127.00 in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Wolfe Research raised Abbott Laboratories from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $118.88.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $100.59 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $105.47 and a 200 day moving average of $98.28. The firm has a market cap of $174.06 billion, a PE ratio of 32.55, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.59. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $81.97 and a one year high of $132.02.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The healthcare product maker reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.42. The firm had revenue of $13.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.99 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 11.65% and a return on equity of 17.69%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.30 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 15th will be issued a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 15th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.55%.

Abbott Laboratories News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Third-quarter adjusted earnings per share were $1.42, in line with the company’s consensus estimate, while revenue rose 14.5% year over year to $13.01 billion, slightly exceeding expectations. Comparable sales increased 7%, and Abbott reaffirmed its full-year adjusted EPS guidance. Abbott third-quarter results
• Positive Sentiment: Management announced plans to separate its approximately $8.5 billion Nutrition business—including Ensure, Similac, Glucerna, Pedialyte and PediaSure—into an independent, publicly traded company through a tax-free distribution to shareholders, targeted for completion by the end of 2027. Abbott believes the transaction could accelerate growth and expand margins in its remaining businesses. Abbott Nutrition separation announcement
• Positive Sentiment: New product approvals and European authorization for Abbott’s Cologuard Plus colorectal cancer test expand its diagnostics portfolio and could support longer-term growth. Cologuard Plus European approval
• Neutral Sentiment: The spin-off is intended to unlock value by allowing Abbott and the new Nutrition company to pursue separate strategies, but investors must assess execution, tax and transition risks before the separation is completed.
• Negative Sentiment: Abbott lowered its 2026 sales-growth forecast, citing weakness in medical devices. The reduced outlook suggests near-term operating momentum may be softer than previously expected, despite continued strength in areas such as continuous glucose monitoring. Reuters report on Abbott’s outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts characterized the $1.42 adjusted EPS result as a slight miss against a $1.43 estimate. Combined with the lower sales outlook and uncertainty surrounding the Nutrition separation, that has outweighed the quarter’s revenue growth and caused the stock to decrease.

Abbott Laboratories Company Profile

Abbott Laboratories is a global healthcare company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of medical products and services. Founded in 1888 by Wallace C. Abbott, the company is headquartered in Abbott Park, Illinois, and serves patients, healthcare providers and consumers in markets around the world.

Abbott operates across four principal businesses: medical devices, diagnostics, nutrition and established pharmaceutical products. Its offerings include glucose-monitoring systems such as FreeStyle Libre; cardiovascular devices, including stents and structural heart products; laboratory and point-of-care diagnostic systems; and branded generic medicines in areas such as gastroenterology, women’s health and cardiometabolic care.

The company’s nutrition portfolio includes infant and pediatric products such as Similac and PediaSure, adult nutritional products such as Ensure, and rehydration products such as Pedialyte.