Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 17.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,015 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 8,974 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $7,519,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ABT. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 51.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,951,907 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,868,718,000 after buying an additional 4,713,135 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $336,815,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 175,556,716 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $21,995,501,000 after buying an additional 2,402,408 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 51.0% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,525,906 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $740,140,000 after buying an additional 1,865,250 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,478,076 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau bought 2,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $91.50 per share, for a total transaction of $201,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 2,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,300. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 885 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.58, for a total value of $102,288.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 146,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,918,253.66. This represents a 0.60% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 3,055 shares of company stock worth $353,097 in the last three months. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.0%

ABT opened at $87.42 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.65. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $81.97 and a one year high of $139.06. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $96.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $111.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.39.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $11.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.99 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.62% and a net margin of 13.90%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.09 EPS. 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 5.48 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ABT. Citigroup decreased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 17th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $150.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $121.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $122.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $119.43.

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.