Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, sixteen have given a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $137.05.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore decreased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $144.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. BTIG Research decreased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $147.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $154.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, William Blair upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT stock opened at $112.27 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $195.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.18, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $119.12 and a 200 day moving average of $126.18. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $105.27 and a 52 week high of $141.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 14.72% and a return on equity of 17.94%. The business had revenue of $11.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. 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, research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 15th were given a dividend of $0.63 per share. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 15th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 67.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, Director Daniel J. Starks bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $108.73 per share, for a total transaction of $1,087,300.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 6,738,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $732,711,572.41. This trade represents a 0.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,719 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $5,850,000 after purchasing an additional 4,755 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.5% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,768 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $648,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. United Bank raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 29,004 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,945,000 after acquiring an additional 2,001 shares during the last quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 54.6% in the 2nd quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. now owns 38,679 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $5,258,000 after acquiring an additional 13,666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Klingman & Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 17.7% in the 2nd quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 12,490 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,699,000 after purchasing an additional 1,876 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

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.