Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Cut to “Hold” at Argus

Argus lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports.

ABT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $121.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $118.00 price target (up from $115.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Abbott Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $118.32.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $104.37 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $180.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.38. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $81.97 and a 1 year high of $132.02. The company’s fifty day moving average is $104.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $102.15.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The healthcare product maker reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.42. The company had revenue of $13.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.99 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 9.75% and a return on equity of 17.97%. The business’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.30 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 94.03%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14.1% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 84,377 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $8,339,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431 shares in the last quarter. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at about $658,000. Aureus Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 25.0% in the 1st quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC now owns 331,920 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $34,078,000 after buying an additional 66,422 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 786.0% in the 2nd quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,061 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,276,000 after buying an additional 12,474 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth approximately $4,889,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Abbott Laboratories News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Abbott initiated the pivotal CROWN-MV trial for its investigational Cephea™ Mitral Valve System. The minimally invasive device targets symptomatic mitral valve disease patients who are not eligible for surgery or existing transcatheter repair, creating a potential future growth opportunity in structural heart care. However, the device remains investigational and commercialization is still dependent on trial results and regulatory approval. Abbott initiates pivotal trial for Cephea device
• Positive Sentiment: The company launched a next-generation Oncodetect test designed to detect residual cancer disease. The release reinforces Abbott’s diagnostics pipeline and could support longer-term growth if the test gains clinical adoption. Abbott launches next-generation Oncodetect test
• Positive Sentiment: Abbott reportedly received approximately $23.9 million in net ETF buying, indicating some institutional demand for the shares, although ETF flows are not a measure of operating performance. Abbott sees net ETF buying
• Neutral Sentiment: Abbott’s planned separation of its roughly $8.5 billion Nutrition business could allow management to focus more closely on medical devices, diagnostics and pharmaceuticals, but it would also remove a sizable source of revenue diversification. The transaction remains subject to regulatory and internal approvals. Potential Abbott Nutrition spin-off
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry reports project growth in South and Central American point-of-care diagnostics and European medical foods, markets in which Abbott participates. These reports provide favorable demand context but do not represent new company-specific contracts or guidance.
• Negative Sentiment: Argus Research downgraded Abbott from Buy to Hold, potentially limiting near-term upside and signaling a less favorable risk-reward assessment. Argus downgrades Abbott to Hold

Abbott Laboratories Company Profile

Abbott Laboratories is a global healthcare company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of medical products and services. Founded in 1888 by Wallace C. Abbott, the company is headquartered in Abbott Park, Illinois, and serves patients, healthcare providers and consumers in markets around the world.

Abbott operates across four principal businesses: medical devices, diagnostics, nutrition and established pharmaceutical products. Its offerings include glucose-monitoring systems such as FreeStyle Libre; cardiovascular devices, including stents and structural heart products; laboratory and point-of-care diagnostic systems; and branded generic medicines in areas such as gastroenterology, women’s health and cardiometabolic care.

The company’s nutrition portfolio includes infant and pediatric products such as Similac and PediaSure, adult nutritional products such as Ensure, and rehydration products such as Pedialyte.