Rathbones Group PLC Acquires 77,879 Shares of Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Rathbones Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.5% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,194,265 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 77,879 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories comprises 1.3% of Rathbones Group PLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $327,955,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Wealthquest Corp increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Wealthquest Corp now owns 7,835 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $804,000 after purchasing an additional 713 shares during the period. DV Trading LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter worth $279,000. Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter valued at $89,000. First Nebraska Trust Co purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter valued at $612,000. Finally, Financial Solutions Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter worth $1,023,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Raised earnings estimate: Erste Group Bank increased its FY2026 EPS forecast for Abbott to $5.52 from $5.47, matching the broader consensus estimate. The revision reinforces expectations for continued earnings growth. Erste Group raises Abbott earnings estimate
• Positive Sentiment: Recent results remain supportive: Abbott’s latest quarterly report exceeded analyst expectations for both earnings and revenue, with revenue rising 13% year over year. Management also provided FY2026 EPS guidance of $5.45 to $5.60, supporting the positive earnings narrative.
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic diversification and income appeal: A comparison with Johnson & Johnson highlighted Abbott’s broad exposure to medical devices and diagnostics, strengthened by the Exact Sciences acquisition. Separately, analysts continue to identify ABT as an attractive Dividend Aristocrat for investors seeking recurring cash income. Abbott versus Johnson and Johnson comparison
• Neutral Sentiment: Healthcare-sector momentum: Strong performances from AbbVie and Guardant Health indicate continued investor interest in healthcare and diagnostics, but these companies’ results do not directly change Abbott’s fundamentals.
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation pressure: UBS lowered its expectations for Abbott’s stock price, potentially limiting upside and weighing on sentiment after the recent recovery. UBS lowers Abbott stock price expectations

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $109.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Daiwa Securities Group cut Abbott Laboratories from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $92.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings cut Abbott Laboratories from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $118.17.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT stock opened at $105.99 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $81.97 and a 1 year high of $137.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $93.45 and a 200 day moving average of $100.45. The company has a market cap of $183.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.30, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.59.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be issued a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 81.55%.

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.