HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 35,569 Shares of Abbott Laboratories $ABT

HighTower Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,838,381 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 35,569 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $246,235,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. IMG Wealth Management Inc. lifted 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 last quarter. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Guerra Advisors Inc purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Anfield Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 81.3% in the second 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 period. Finally, Delos Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE ABT opened at $112.63 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $195.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.28, a P/E/G 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. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $105.27 and a 52-week high of $141.23. The company has a fifty day moving average of $119.48 and a 200-day moving average of $126.40.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. The firm had revenue of $11.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.80 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.94% and a net margin of 14.72%.The company’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. 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. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 15th were issued a $0.63 dividend. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 15th. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $169.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $152.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Freedom Capital raised Abbott Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $147.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $154.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.05.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, Director Daniel J. Starks bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $108.73 per share, for a total transaction of $1,087,300.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,738,817 shares in the company, valued at $732,711,572.41. This trade represents a 0.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

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.