Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Stock Price Down 2.1% – Time to Sell?

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) shares fell 2.1% on Monday . The company traded as low as $81.97 and last traded at $82.5820. 16,218,613 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 37% from the average session volume of 11,877,385 shares. The stock had previously closed at $84.32.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Argus lowered their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $150.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $121.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $144.00 to $143.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $119.43.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $102.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $115.09. The company has a market cap of $143.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.59%.

Insider Activity

In other Abbott Laboratories news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 709 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.58, for a total value of $81,946.22. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 39,164 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,526,575.12. This trade represents a 1.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mary K. Moreland sold 613 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.58, for a total value of $70,850.54. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 104,291 shares in the company, valued at $12,053,953.78. The trade was a 0.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 3,055 shares of company stock worth $353,097 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.4% in the fourth 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 lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,627,791 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 63,229,445 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,922,519,000 after buying an additional 1,614,706 shares during the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 12,439.6% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.0% during the 4th 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 hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.