Abbott Laboratories Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:ABT)

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Traders bought 28,776 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 72% compared to the typical daily volume of 16,739 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $144.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Robert W. Baird started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $121.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $109.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $118.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau acquired 2,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $91.50 per share, for a total transaction of $201,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,200 shares in the company, valued at $201,300. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel J. Starks acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $92.65 per share, with a total value of $926,500.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,751,103 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $625,489,692.95. This represents a 0.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 2,402,408 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position 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 worth $10,004,880,000 after buying an additional 1,627,791 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,614,706 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 39,005,451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.0% during the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 400,400 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Abbott Laboratories

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

• Positive Sentiment: Abbott beat Q2 earnings expectations and raised 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to $5.45-$5.60, signaling better profit momentum for the rest of the year. Abbott Reports Second-Quarter 2026 Results and Raises Full-Year EPS Guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Management pointed to stronger second-half demand across multiple businesses, including nutrition, medical devices, diagnostics, and diabetes care, which supports a faster growth profile. ABT Q2 Earnings Call Flags Stronger Second-Half Setup
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts turned more constructive after the results, with JPMorgan, Citi, Piper Sandler, Wells Fargo, TD Cowen, BTIG, and RBC all lifting targets or reaffirming bullish views. These Analysts Increase Their Forecasts On Abbott Following Better-Than-Expected Q2 Results

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT stock opened at $100.71 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $89.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $102.17. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $81.97 and a 12-month high of $137.49. The firm has a market cap of $175.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $12.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.52 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 11.65% and a return on equity of 17.65%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.380-1.46 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 5.450-5.60 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.48 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be issued a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.59%.

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.