Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, sixteen have issued a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $137.05.

Several analysts have weighed in on ABT shares. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $132.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Argus lowered their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $150.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $155.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. BTIG Research lowered their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 23rd.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT stock opened at $112.27 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $119.12 and a 200-day moving average of $126.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $195.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.75. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $105.27 and a 12 month high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 14.72% and a return on equity of 17.94%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. 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, sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company 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 an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.74%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, Director Daniel J. Starks purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $108.73 per share, with a total value of $1,087,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 6,738,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $732,711,572.41. The trade was a 0.15% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 175,556,716 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $21,995,501,000 after buying an additional 2,402,408 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,853,782 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $10,004,880,000 after acquiring an additional 1,627,791 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.6% during the fourth 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 period. J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 12,439.6% in the fourth 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 increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 39,169,239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $4,907,523,000 after purchasing an additional 400,400 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

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.