Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Abbott Laboratories Call Options (NYSE:ABT)

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) saw some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors acquired 28,776 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 72% compared to the average daily volume of 16,739 call options.

Key Stories Impacting Abbott Laboratories

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

• Positive Sentiment: Abbott reported Q2 adjusted EPS of $1.31, topping Wall Street estimates, while revenue rose 13% year over year to $12.51 billion, signaling broad business strength. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company raised full-year 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to $5.45-$5.60, above its prior range, while reaffirming comparable sales growth guidance, a key catalyst behind the stock’s move higher. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Investor optimism was also boosted by strong momentum in medical devices and diagnostics, with commentary pointing to especially strong diagnostics growth and improving heart-device demand in the second half. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Despite the upbeat results, Abbott’s quarterly profit fell sharply from a year ago, showing that not every line item improved even as the market focused on the stronger outlook. Article Title

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on ABT. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $122.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 17th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target 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. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” 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 and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.61.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, Director Daniel J. Starks bought 10,000 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $92.65 per share, with a total value of $926,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 6,751,103 shares in the company, valued at approximately $625,489,692.95. This trade represents a 0.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Philip P. Boudreau purchased 2,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $91.50 per share, with a total value 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 trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nia Impact Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Nia Impact Advisors LLC now owns 3,706 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $504,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank of Texas increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. American National Bank of Texas now owns 3,408 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 815 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $102,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.7% in the third quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,028 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $674,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clayton Financial Group LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC now owns 6,217 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $779,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT stock traded up $9.44 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $98.71. The company had a trading volume of 15,414,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,218,523. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $81.97 and a 12-month high of $137.49. The company has a market capitalization of $171.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.62, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $89.33 and a 200-day moving average of $102.36.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $12.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.52 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.62% and a net margin of 13.90%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.26 EPS. Abbott Laboratories has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.380-1.46 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 5.450-5.60 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.59%.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.