Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Upgraded at Robert W. Baird

Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. UBS Group lowered their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Leerink Partners decreased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $106.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $121.00 to $113.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $118.42.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $95.25 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $88.88 and its 200-day moving average is $104.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $165.91 billion, a PE ratio of 26.68, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.61. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $81.97 and a fifty-two week high of $137.49.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.90% and a return on equity of 17.62%. The business had revenue of $11.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.99 billion. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $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. Equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.48 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 70.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

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

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 175,556,716 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $21,995,501,000 after purchasing an additional 2,402,408 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in 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 valued at $10,004,880,000 after buying an additional 1,627,791 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.6% during the fourth 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 increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 39,005,451 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.0% in 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 in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Abbott Laboratories

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

• Positive Sentiment: Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on Abbott with an “outperform” rating and a $121 price target, signaling meaningful upside from current levels. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Baird’s bullish view follows a broader positive analyst backdrop, with another report highlighting Abbott among Wednesday’s notable Wall Street research calls. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Abbott also benefited from news that Tandem Diabetes Care launched compatibility for its t:slim X2 insulin pump with Abbott’s FreeStyle Libre 3 Plus sensor in five international markets, which may support adoption of Abbott’s diabetes device ecosystem. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Abbott cleared a major legal risk after the DOJ ended its criminal formula probe, removing a potential overhang that had weighed on the stock. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Some recent coverage compares Abbott with Intuitive Surgical as a healthcare investment idea, but this is more commentary than a direct catalyst for the shares. Article Title

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.