Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Upgraded by Robert W. Baird to Strong-Buy Rating

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) was upgraded by equities researchers at Robert W. Baird to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. UBS Group cut their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $118.42.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $95.25 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $88.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $104.41. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $81.97 and a 1-year high of $137.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a market cap of $165.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.68, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.61.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.62% and a net margin of 13.90%.The company had revenue of $11.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.09 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. As a group, analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.48 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, Director Daniel J. Starks purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $92.65 per share, for a total transaction of $926,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 6,751,103 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $625,489,692.95. This represents a 0.15% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Philip P. Boudreau acquired 2,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $91.50 per share, for a total transaction of $201,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 2,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $201,300. This represents a ? increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,402,408 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position 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 valued at $10,004,880,000 after acquiring an additional 1,627,791 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 1,614,706 shares during the period. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 39,005,451 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 400,400 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories News Roundup

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.