Abbott Laboratories (ABT) Dividend Profile

Abbott has mailed a dividend check every quarter since 1924 — 408 in a row — and raised the annual payout for 54 consecutive years. Along the way it spun off AbbVie, watched $8 billion of COVID-testing revenue evaporate, and rebuilt itself around a glucose sensor worn on the back of the arm. The streak never blinked, which is why ABT sits comfortably on the dividend kings list.

ABT Dividend at a Glance

Current yield, annual dividend, and the exact streak length are shown live in the stats bar above.

Abbott Dividend History: The Milestones

Why the Streak Has Lasted This Long

Four businesses, not one

Abbott's $44.3 billion of 2025 sales came from four segments: Medical Devices ($21.4 billion), Diagnostics ($8.9 billion), Nutrition ($8.5 billion), and Established Pharmaceuticals ($5.5 billion) — branded generics sold mostly in emerging markets. When one segment stumbles, as Nutrition did in 2022 and Diagnostics did in 2023, the other three keep the cash coming. Few healthcare companies are this diversified; Johnson & Johnson is the closest comparison.

A blockbuster device with recurring revenue

The FreeStyle Libre continuous glucose monitor is Abbott's growth engine — CGM sales hit $2.0 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025 alone, up 12.2% organically. Sensors are replaced every two weeks, so Libre behaves like a subscription: predictable, high-margin revenue from a diabetes population that keeps growing. Medical Devices grew 10.4% organically in the fourth quarter.

Earnings that outrun the dividend

Abbott earned $5.15 per share on an adjusted basis in 2025, up 10%, while paying $2.36 in dividends. That leaves roughly half of profits for research, acquisitions, and buybacks — and the company guided to $5.55–$5.80 for 2026. A payout ratio this low is why Abbott can afford raises near 7% while still absorbing setbacks like the ones below.

What Could Break the Streak

• Infant formula litigation. Abbott faces lawsuits claiming its preterm-infant formula caused necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). A St. Louis jury awarded $495 million in one case in July 2024, and a Chicago jury added a $70 million verdict in April 2026. In August 2026 Abbott agreed to pay about $670 million to settle roughly 2,000 claims — but around 1,700 lawsuits remain pending. Abbott denies liability, and the 2022 Sturgis recall shows how quickly the Nutrition segment can turn from asset to headline.
• Device competition. Dexcom fights Libre for every diabetic, and Medtronic and Boston Scientific compete across cardiovascular devices. Abbott has to keep innovating to hold share, and pricing pressure is constant.
• Acquisition digestion. The $21 billion Exact Sciences deal is Abbott's biggest in years and dilutes 2026 adjusted EPS by roughly $0.20. Overpaying for growth is a risk any diversified healthcare company carries.
• Currency and emerging-market exposure. Established Pharmaceuticals and much of Nutrition sell outside the US, so a strong dollar shaves reported growth in the years it matters.
• A low starting yield. Abbott's yield typically trails the dividend aristocrats list average, so the payout has to keep growing to justify the price.

The realistic downside: a year or two of smaller raises while litigation costs and acquisition debt work through the books. A cut would take something the pandemic, the Sturgis shutdown, and the COVID-testing cliff couldn't produce.

What $10,000 of ABT Pays You

The income callout above shows what a $10,000 position generates at today's yield. The number looks modest — and that's the point:

1. The raises are the return. At 7% annual growth, your income doubles roughly every ten years without buying another share. Abbott's quarterly payout has already climbed more than 70% since 2020.
2. Reinvestment does the rest. Route payments through a DRIP and project what a decade of near-7% raises does to your income with our yield-on-cost calculator.

How ABT Fits in a Dividend Portfolio

Abbott is a dividend-growth compounder: a low yield today, raises that outrun inflation twice over, and a payout ratio with room to spare.

• Role: the growth end of the yield vs. growth spectrum — buy it for what the dividend becomes, not what it is
• Pairs well with: its former pharmaceutical arm AbbVie, which carries the same inherited streak with a much higher yield and slower raise pace
• Watch annually: the mid-December raise announcement, FreeStyle Libre growth versus Dexcom, and progress toward resolving the NEC litigation

Every major broker offers ABT with fractional shares and free reinvestment — compare platforms, or see how Abbott's 54-year streak ranks against the other names on the dividend kings list.