Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus on Abbott Laboratories, with 20 buy, three strong-buy and four hold ratings. The average 12-month price target is $119.50, although recent targets range from $102 to $130.
• Abbott’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with adjusted EPS of $1.31 and revenue of $12.59 billion, up 13% year over year. The company guided for full-year 2026 EPS of $5.45 to $5.60 and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.63 per share, yielding about 2.5%.
• Shares opened at $98.98 after a recent decline, while institutional investors own 75.18% of the stock. Abbott also launched SimpleScreen CRC, an FDA-approved blood-based colorectal cancer screening test, ahead of its scheduled third-quarter results on October 21.

Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-seven ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty have issued a buy recommendation and three have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $119.50.

Several research firms recently commented on ABT. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $109.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Wolfe Research raised Abbott Laboratories from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th.

Key Stories Impacting Abbott Laboratories

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

• Positive Sentiment: Abbott launched SimpleScreen CRC, an FDA-approved blood-based colorectal cancer screening test for average-risk adults aged 45 and older. The product, developed by Freenome and exclusively commercialized by Abbott, expands the company’s screening portfolio alongside Cologuard Plus and could help reach patients who avoid stool-based testing. SimpleScreen CRC is covered by Medicare for eligible Part B patients. Abbott launches SimpleScreen CRC blood test
• Positive Sentiment: Commentary continues to highlight Abbott as a historically stable medical-device and dividend-growth company, supported by recurring demand for products such as glucose monitors and other healthcare devices. Historically stable dividend raisers in medical devices
• Neutral Sentiment: Abbott will report third-quarter 2026 results before the market opens on October 21. Investors may remain cautious ahead of the release, which will provide an update on the company’s earnings, revenue and full-year outlook. Abbott hosts conference call for third-quarter earnings
• Negative Sentiment: ABT’s decline was more pronounced than the broader market, with market coverage emphasizing that fair value remains a concern. No new operational setback was identified, but valuation pressure and investor positioning appear to be weighing on the stock. Abbott sees a more significant dip than the broader market

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.6% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 152,563,476 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $13,843,610,000 after acquiring an additional 6,769,518 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 80,926,234 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $7,343,246,000 after buying an additional 1,350,766 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $7,922,519,000 after acquiring an additional 1,614,706 shares during the period. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its position 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 buying an additional 39,005,451 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 2.0%

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $98.98 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $171.27 billion, a PE ratio of 32.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $107.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $81.97 and a 12 month high of $135.45.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $12.59 billion for 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 17.69%. The company's revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm 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. On average, analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is currently 81.55%.

About Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories NYSE: ABT is a diversified healthcare company that develops, manufactures and sells medical devices, diagnostic products, nutritional products and branded generic pharmaceuticals. Founded in 1888 by Wallace C. Abbott, the company serves healthcare providers, institutions, retailers and consumers worldwide.

Abbott's medical device portfolio includes cardiovascular products, such as coronary stents, structural heart systems and heart failure devices, as well as diabetes-care technologies, including the FreeStyle Libre continuous glucose monitoring system.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.