Piper Sandler Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Stock Price

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) had its price objective cut by research analysts at Piper Sandler from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the healthcare product maker’s stock. Piper Sandler’s target price indicates a potential upside of 25.63% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. William Blair raised Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $157.00 to $152.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 9th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $162.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.79.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT stock opened at $107.46 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $124.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $128.33. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $105.78 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.86 billion, a PE ratio of 28.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. The company had revenue of $11.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.80 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.94% and a net margin of 14.72%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm 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. Analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. IMG Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 759.1% during the 2nd quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 189 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Guerra Advisors Inc bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Anfield Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 81.3% during the 2nd quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 232 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Abbott Laboratories

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

• Positive Sentiment: MedTech and pharma strength, and EPS resilience — Abbott reported adjusted Q4 EPS growth (company highlighted margin improvements) and strong MedTech (+~12%) and Established Pharma (+~9%) performance that partly offset Nutrition weakness; management still projects FY‑2026 adjusted EPS growth. Press Release
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts keep buy/outperform stance despite cuts — several major firms trimmed price targets after the print but largely maintained buy/overweight ratings, signaling conviction in the longer‑term story even as near‑term expectations were tempered. Analyst Reaction
• Positive Sentiment: Some commentators view the pullback as a buying opportunity — market commentators highlight ABT’s dividend history, cash flow and buyback capacity, suggesting the drop may create an attractive entry for long‑term investors. MarketBeat: Pullback Analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: Full earnings call and transcripts available — investors can review management commentary and segment detail in the Q4 earnings call transcript for color on nutrition, diagnostics and Exact/other strategic items. Earnings Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Dividend/valuation commentary circulates — value and dividend‑focused outlets are flagging ABT as attractively valued after the pullback; this is background context rather than a near‑term catalyst. Zacks: Value Take
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue miss driven by Nutrition and Diagnostics — Q4 revenue (~$11.5B) fell short of consensus, with Nutrition down sharply (~8–9%) and Diagnostics weak, sparking the initial selloff. Reuters: Revenue Miss
• Negative Sentiment: Guidance slightly below Street — Abbott set Q1 EPS and FY‑2026 EPS ranges that sit near or a touch below consensus, increasing near‑term revenue/growth concerns. Guidance Details
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple price‑target cuts — a raft of firms (Citigroup, Goldman, Raymond James, Sanford Bernstein, Oppenheimer, RBC, etc.) trimmed targets, which can amplify selling pressure even if ratings remain constructive. Benzinga: PT Cuts
• Negative Sentiment: Options and hedging activity spiked — an unusual surge in put buying suggests traders are positioning for further near‑term downside (heightened bearish sentiment).
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory scrutiny in India — reports of an investigation into alleged misuse of a codeine‑based cough syrup (Abbott Healthcare) add an extra headline risk in emerging markets. Reuters: India Scrutiny

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.