Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Acquires 8,974 Shares of Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 17.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,015 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,974 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $7,519,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Guerra Advisors Inc bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Bridge Generations Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Daniel J. Starks acquired 10,000 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $92.65 per share, for a total transaction of $926,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,751,103 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $625,489,692.95. The trade was a 0.15% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Philip P. Boudreau purchased 2,200 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $91.50 per share, with a total value of $201,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 2,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $201,300. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 3,055 shares of company stock worth $353,097. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $87.42 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $152.27 billion, a PE ratio of 24.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $81.97 and a 1-year high of $139.06. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $96.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $111.70.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.90% and a return on equity of 17.62%. The firm had revenue of $11.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.09 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. On average, equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.48 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $137.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 17th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 20th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $144.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 20th. Benchmark cut their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.