Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Earns Buy Rating from BTIG Research

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at BTIG Research in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $131.00 price target on the healthcare product maker’s stock. BTIG Research’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 35.20% from the stock’s current price.

ABT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Daiwa Securities Group decreased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $113.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 23rd. 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. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $154.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.00.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT stock opened at $96.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.58. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $93.92 and a fifty-two week high of $139.06. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $107.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $118.65. The company has a market capitalization of $168.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.14, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.79.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.71% and a net margin of 13.90%.The firm had revenue of $11.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.09 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. 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 expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Mary K. Moreland sold 613 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.58, for a total value of $70,850.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 104,291 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,053,953.78. This represents a 0.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.58, for a total value of $67,614.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 24,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,846,504.24. This trade represents a 2.32% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 3,055 shares of company stock valued at $353,097 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 175,556,716 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $21,995,501,000 after purchasing an additional 2,402,408 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,853,782 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $10,004,880,000 after purchasing an additional 1,627,791 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 63,229,445 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,922,519,000 after purchasing an additional 1,614,706 shares during the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 12,439.6% in the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 39,319,009 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $4,926,279,000 after purchasing an additional 39,005,451 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 39,169,239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $4,907,523,000 after purchasing an additional 400,400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Abbott Laboratories

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

• Positive Sentiment: Preliminary settlement reached in six shareholder derivative suits tied to Abbott’s U.S. infant‑formula business, reducing litigation overhang for investors. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: New data on Cancerguard MCED (multi‑cancer early detection) presented at AACR 2026 — important for Abbott’s growth thesis since the Exact Sciences deal expanded its oncology diagnostics exposure. Continued clinical progress supports longer‑term revenue upside. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Insiders added roughly $3.1M of stock, and a number of analysts still see upside — some calling the post‑acquisition pullback a buying opportunity given valuation and Abbott’s dividend track record. Read More. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Q1 results: adjusted EPS $1.15 (vs. $1.14 est.) and revenue $11.16B (vs. $10.99B); company set FY 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to $5.38–$5.58 and Q2 guide to $1.25–$1.31, explicitly including ~$0.20 of dilution from the Exact Sciences acquisition. Investors are parsing beat vs. the guidance change. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call transcript and analyst commentary emphasize medical‑device strength offset by Diagnostics/Nutrition softness and acquisition-related margin pressure — useful for active traders but mixed for near‑term stock direction. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction: shares fell after the print because Abbott trimmed guidance and flagged Nutrition weakness and margin compression; coverage shows the takeover (≈$21–23B) is dilutive near term. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Many brokers lowered price targets and some cut forecasts following Q1/guidance — several firms kept positive ratings but reduced targets (examples include RBC, Jefferies, Raymond James, Citi and others), amplifying short‑term selling pressure. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst notes and headlines highlighted the EPS guidance cut and Nutrition slump as primary reasons for the earlier drop — these remain catalysts to watch for the next quarter. Read More.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.