ABT has added another layer to its already constructive setup: a fresh target raise from a bellwether name, a stock now up 12% over the past month, and short sellers continuing to exit a name that has given them little reason to stay.
The headline development since last week's note is TD Cowen lifting its price target on ABT to $135 from $115 on August 25, while maintaining its Buy rating. That is a 17% target increase from a firm already on record as constructive — and it pushes TD Cowen to the high end of the Street. The broader analyst picture remains firmly bullish. Wolfe Research's August 13 upgrade to Outperform (noted in last week's note) has aged well, with the stock climbing from $112.68 then to $116.13 now. The mean price target has edged up to $120.20, implying modest further upside from current levels, though TD Cowen's $135 and RBC's $130 suggest the more optimistic contingent sees a wider gap. No firm has downgraded during this stretch. The bull case centres on CGM-driven growth in Diabetes Care, double-digit EPS expansion, and momentum in electrophysiology. Bears point to softness in Nutrition and Established Pharmaceuticals, neither of which has dented sentiment in recent weeks.
Positioning reflects the constructive mood rather than contradicts it. Short interest has fallen another 10% week-on-week to just 1.17% of the free float — a low and declining figure that carries little narrative weight on its own. Borrow is essentially free at 0.30%, and availability is entirely unconstrained, with over 1.7 billion shares available to lend. There is no short-squeeze dynamic here, no borrow friction, no sign of a rebuilding short base. Options are similarly calm: the put/call ratio has edged to 0.64, near its 52-week low and running just under one standard deviation below its 20-day average. The options market is not hedging; it is leaning with the tape.
The ORTEX short score has drifted slightly lower this week to 28.9, down from around 29.5 over the prior fortnight — consistent with the picture of shorts gradually unwinding. The analyst recommendation factor score ranks in the 97th percentile across the universe, the dividend score is at the 98th percentile, and the short score rank is at the 78th — all pointing to a name where institutional and analytical sentiment is unusually aligned. The PE multiple has expanded roughly 1.7 points over the past 30 days to 19x, and the price-to-book has risen 0.13 points over the same period, reflecting a stock that the market is willing to pay more for as earnings credibility builds.
On the peer tape, ABT's 3% weekly gain stands out. MDT fell 1% on the week and COO dropped nearly 4%. BDX was the closest comparable performer, up about 5%, and RMD led the group with a 7.5% weekly gain. The sector tone is mixed, making Abbott's advance look more stock-specific than macro-driven.
The last earnings print — a 12.8% single-day jump in mid-July — reset expectations sharply higher. The next event is scheduled for October 14. Between now and then, the question is whether target upgrades like TD Cowen's can keep pulling the stock toward the top of the analyst range, or whether the gap to $135 proves harder to close as the stock approaches multi-month highs and valuation multiples continue to tick upward.
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