Piper Sandler Cuts Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Price Target to $135.00

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) had its target price lowered by Piper Sandler from $150.00 to $135.00 in a report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the healthcare product maker’s stock.

ABT has been the topic of a number of other reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. BTIG Research reduced their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Daiwa Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $134.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Benchmark assumed coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Friday, October 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $145.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.79.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT stock opened at $107.46 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market cap of $186.86 billion, a PE ratio of 28.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50 day moving average of $124.77 and a 200-day moving average of $128.29. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $105.78 and a 12-month high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. The business had revenue of $11.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.80 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.94% and a net margin of 14.72%.Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.120-1.180 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 5.550-5.800 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 15th. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.74%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. IMG Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 759.1% during the second quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 189 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Guerra Advisors Inc purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Anfield Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 81.3% in the second quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 232 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Key Abbott Laboratories News

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

• Positive Sentiment: MedTech and pharma strength, and EPS resilience — Abbott reported adjusted Q4 EPS growth (company highlighted margin improvements) and strong MedTech (+~12%) and Established Pharma (+~9%) performance that partly offset Nutrition weakness; management still projects FY‑2026 adjusted EPS growth. Press Release
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts keep buy/outperform stance despite cuts — several major firms trimmed price targets after the print but largely maintained buy/overweight ratings, signaling conviction in the longer‑term story even as near‑term expectations were tempered. Analyst Reaction
• Positive Sentiment: Some commentators view the pullback as a buying opportunity — market commentators highlight ABT’s dividend history, cash flow and buyback capacity, suggesting the drop may create an attractive entry for long‑term investors. MarketBeat: Pullback Analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: Full earnings call and transcripts available — investors can review management commentary and segment detail in the Q4 earnings call transcript for color on nutrition, diagnostics and Exact/other strategic items. Earnings Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Dividend/valuation commentary circulates — value and dividend‑focused outlets are flagging ABT as attractively valued after the pullback; this is background context rather than a near‑term catalyst. Zacks: Value Take
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue miss driven by Nutrition and Diagnostics — Q4 revenue (~$11.5B) fell short of consensus, with Nutrition down sharply (~8–9%) and Diagnostics weak, sparking the initial selloff. Reuters: Revenue Miss
• Negative Sentiment: Guidance slightly below Street — Abbott set Q1 EPS and FY‑2026 EPS ranges that sit near or a touch below consensus, increasing near‑term revenue/growth concerns. Guidance Details
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple price‑target cuts — a raft of firms (Citigroup, Goldman, Raymond James, Sanford Bernstein, Oppenheimer, RBC, etc.) trimmed targets, which can amplify selling pressure even if ratings remain constructive. Benzinga: PT Cuts
• Negative Sentiment: Options and hedging activity spiked — an unusual surge in put buying suggests traders are positioning for further near‑term downside (heightened bearish sentiment).
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory scrutiny in India — reports of an investigation into alleged misuse of a codeine‑based cough syrup (Abbott Healthcare) add an extra headline risk in emerging markets. Reuters: India Scrutiny

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.