Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Abbott Laboratories has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy”, with 19 buy ratings, 2 strong buys, 4 holds, and 1 sell. The average 12-month price target among analysts is about $118.30.
• Several firms recently trimmed their price targets on ABT, including Barclays, Benchmark, Oppenheimer, and UBS, though most kept positive ratings such as overweight or buy.
• Insiders have been buying shares: Director Daniel J. Starks purchased 10,000 shares and CFO Philip P. Boudreau bought 2,200 shares, while the stock also remains supported by strong institutional ownership of 75.18%.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-six research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $118.3043.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ABT. Barclays decreased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $144.00 to $143.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 20th. Benchmark decreased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 17th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $115.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 20th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, Director Daniel J. Starks acquired 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $92.65 per share, for a total transaction of $926,500.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,751,103 shares in the company, valued at $625,489,692.95. This trade represents a 0.15% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Philip P. Boudreau bought 2,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $91.50 per share, for a total transaction of $201,300.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,200 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $201,300. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Freemont Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 197.2% during the fourth quarter. Freemont Management S.A. now owns 10,700 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,341,000 after buying an additional 7,100 shares during the period. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $116,580,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 24.3% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 246,586 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $30,931,000 after buying an additional 48,286 shares during the period. Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth about $185,640,000. Finally, Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 671,743 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $84,163,000 after buying an additional 13,543 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.7%

ABT opened at $87.78 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $89.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $106.18. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $81.97 and a twelve month high of $139.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market cap of $152.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.63.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $11.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.99 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.62% and a net margin of 13.90%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.09 EPS. 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. Research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.48 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be given a $0.63 dividend. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is 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.

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