Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) shares gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $120.73, but opened at $107.53. Abbott Laboratories shares last traded at $112.1370, with a volume of 14,253,793 shares.

Key Stories Impacting Abbott Laboratories

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

• Positive Sentiment: Adjusted earnings met expectations and showed year‑over‑year improvement (adjusted EPS $1.50; adjusted EPS growth noted). This supports cash flow and the company’s ability to continue dividends and buybacks. Abbott (ABT) Matches Q4 Earnings Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: MedTech and Established Pharmaceuticals were sources of strength (double‑digit MedTech growth, pharma gains), partially offsetting weaker segments and supporting management’s message of recovering core operations. Is Abbott’s January Pullback a Good Time to Buy?
• Neutral Sentiment: Company released full Q4 press release, slide deck and earnings call transcript — useful for digging into segment detail and one‑time items that affected GAAP results. Investors should review the slides/call for wording on Exact Sciences closing and cost assumptions. Abbott Q4 Press Release / Slide Deck
• Neutral Sentiment: Full earnings call transcript is available for color on guidance cadence, product trends and timing on cost or merger-related charges that impacted GAAP EPS. Abbott Laboratories (ABT) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue missed Street forecasts (reported ~$11.46B vs ~$11.8B expected), driven by declines in Nutrition (~‑9%) and weakness in Diagnostics — that miss was the immediate trigger for selling pressure. Abbott misses quarterly revenue estimates on weakness in diagnostics segment
• Negative Sentiment: Near‑term guidance disappointed: Q1 EPS guide (1.12–1.18) came in below consensus (~1.20) and full‑year adjusted EPS range (5.55–5.80) left little upside versus expectations — investors punished the stock on muted near‑term visibility. Abbott Labs Stock Hits 52-Week Low As Outlook Disappoints
• Negative Sentiment: GAAP vs. adjusted EPS divergence and reported one‑time items (GAAP diluted EPS lower) raised questions about non‑operating impacts and drove intraday volatility; heavier selling pushed the stock toward its 52‑week low on high volume. QuiverQuant Q4 Results Summary

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $147.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $149.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, William Blair upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.42.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 10.2%

The company has a 50 day moving average of $125.65 and a 200-day moving average of $128.68. The company has a market cap of $188.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 31.88%.The business had revenue of $11.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.34 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. 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. On average, equities analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 31.58%.

Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. IMG Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 759.1% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth $29,000. Guerra Advisors Inc bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Anfield Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 81.3% during the 2nd quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 232 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by 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.