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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D. C. 20549

FORM 11-K

FOR ANNUAL REPORTS OF EMPLOYEE STOCK PURCHASE, SAVINGS
AND SIMILAR PLANS PURSUANT TO SECTION 15(d) OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

(Mark One)

x                              ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017

OR

o                                 TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from        to

Commission File Number

A.                                    Full title of the plan and the address of the plan, if different from that of the issuer named below:

ABBOTT LABORATORIES STOCK RETIREMENT PROGRAM

B.                                    Name of issuer of the securities held pursuant to the plan and the address of its principal executive office:

ABBOTT LABORATORIES

100 Abbott Park Road

Abbott Park, Illinois 60064-6049

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FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

ABBOTT LABORATORIES STOCK RETIREMENT PLAN

DECEMBER 31, 2017 AND 2016

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C O N T E N T S

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Plan Administrator and Plan Participants

Abbott Laboratories Stock Retirement Plan

Opinion on the financial statements

We have audited the accompanying statements of net assets available for benefits of Abbott Laboratories Stock Retirement Plan (the Plan) as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, the related statement of changes in net assets available for benefits for the year ended December 31, 2017, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the financial statements).  In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the net assets available for benefits of the Plan as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, and the changes in net assets available for benefits for the year ended December 31, 2017, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

Basis for opinion

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Plan’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Plan’s financial statements based on our audits.  We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are required to be independent with respect to the Plan in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB.  Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud.  The Plan is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting.  As part of our audits we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Plan’s internal control over financial reporting.  Accordingly, we express no such opinion.

Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the

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amounts and disclosures in the financial statements.  Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements.  We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Supplemental information

The supplemental information in the accompanying schedule of assets (held at end of year) as of December 31, 2017, has been subjected to audit procedures performed in conjunction with the audit of the Plan’s financial statements.  The supplemental information is presented for purposes of additional analysis and is not a required part of the basic financial statements but include supplemental information required by the Department of Labor’s Rules and Regulations for Reporting and Disclosure under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974.  The supplemental information is the responsibility of the Plan’s management.  Our audit procedures included determining whether the supplemental information reconciles to the basic financial statements or the underlying accounting and other records, as applicable, and performing procedures to test the completeness and accuracy of the information presented in the supplemental information.  In forming our opinion on the supplemental information in the accompanying schedule, we evaluated whether the supplemental information, including its form and content, is presented in conformity with the Department of Labor’s Rules and Regulations for Reporting and Disclosure under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974.  In our opinion, the supplemental information referred to above is fairly stated, in all material respects, in relation to the basic financial statements taken as a whole.

/s/ Grant Thornton LLP

We have served as the Plan’s auditor since 2002.

Chicago, Illinois

June 22, 2018

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Abbott Laboratories Stock Retirement Plan

STATEMENTS OF NET ASSETS AVAILABLE FOR BENEFITS

December 31, 2017 and 2016

(Dollars in thousands)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these statements.

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Abbott Laboratories Stock Retirement Plan

STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN NET ASSETS AVAILABLE FOR BENEFITS

Year ended December 31, 2017

(Dollars in thousands)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these statements.

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Abbott Laboratories Stock Retirement Plan

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

December 31, 2017 and 2016

NOTE A - DESCRIPTION OF THE PLAN

The following description of the Abbott Laboratories Stock Retirement Plan (the “Plan”) provides only general information.  Participants should refer to the Plan document for a more complete description of the Plan’s provisions.

General

In general, United States employees of Abbott Laboratories (“Abbott”) and selected participating subsidiaries and affiliates may, after meeting certain employment requirements, voluntarily participate in the Plan.  The Plan is intended to constitute a profit sharing plan under Section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “IRC”), with a cash or deferred arrangement under IRC Section 401(k), and a portion of the Plan is intended to constitute an employee stock ownership plan that meets the applicable requirements of IRC Sections 409 and 4975(e)(7).  The Plan is subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”).

Aon Hewitt served as the Plan’s record keeper until its parent company, Aon plc, completed the sale of its benefits administration business to Blackstone Group LP during 2017.  The business now operates as Alight Solutions and continues to serve as the record keeper of the Plan.  The Northern Trust Company (“Custodian” or “Trustee”) serves as the Plan’s custodian and trustee.

In January 2017, Abbott completed the acquisition of St. Jude Medical, Inc., a global medical device manufacturer.  During 2017, employees of St. Jude Medical, LLC (the surviving entity in the acquisition) and its subsidiaries in the United States were eligible to participate in a separate plan, not the Plan.

In February 2017, Abbott completed the sale of Abbott Medical Optics (“AMO”), its vision care business.  After the sale, AMO employees in the United States were no longer eligible to make contributions to the Plan and were given the choice to keep their account balance in the Plan, including continuing to repay outstanding loans, roll over their account to a personal rollover account or another qualified plan, or take a distribution subject to any applicable taxes and penalties.

In October 2017, Abbott completed the acquisition of Alere Inc. (“Alere”), a global manufacturer of rapid point-of-care diagnostic tests.  Alere employees were permitted to participate in the Plan following the acquisition.  Alere had previously sponsored a separate 401(k) plan, which was terminated prior to the acquisition, and the participants in that plan were permitted to roll over their account balances into the Plan.  If a participant in the Alere plan had an outstanding loan, Abbott offered an opportunity for the outstanding loan balance to be included in the rollover and loan repayment to continue under the Plan.

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Abbott Laboratories Stock Retirement Plan

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - CONTINUED

December 31, 2017 and 2016

NOTE A - DESCRIPTION OF THE PLAN - Continued

Contributions and Vesting

Contributions to the Plan are paid to the Abbott Laboratories Stock Retirement Trust (“Trust”).  The Trust is administered by the Trustee and an investment committee (the “Committee”).

Employees are eligible to commence participation in the Plan on any entry date following their date of hire.  Except for employees described later in the paragraph, eligible employees electing to participate contribute from 2% up to 25% of their eligible earnings, subject to certain limitations.  Participants may choose to make their contributions from pretax earnings, after-tax earnings, or both.  The Plan also permits Roth 401(k) contributions and has a Roth 401(k) conversion feature.  Beginning March 2017, newly hired employees in certain specified Abbott divisions and business units, participate in the Plan under a different structure (“Abbott Green” employees). Alere employees also participate in the Plan under the “Abbott Green” structure.  Under the Abbott Green structure, participants may defer up to 50% of eligible earnings as pre-tax or Roth contributions.

Participants who have attained age 50 before the end of the Plan year and who are making the maximum pretax contributions are eligible to make catch-up contributions.  The pretax contributions are a pay conversion feature, which is a salary deferral option under the provisions of Section 401(k) of the IRC.  Participants may elect to invest their contributions in any or all of the investment options available under the Plan, except for investment options closed to new contributions.

Employer contributions to the Plan are made each payroll period based on the participating employees’ eligible earnings.  The amount of the employer contribution is determined by the Board of Directors of Abbott.  Excluding the Abbott Green employees, the employer contribution for the year ended December 31, 2017, was 5% of the participant’s eligible earnings if the participant elected to contribute at least 2% of eligible earnings to the Plan.  Effective with the first pay period ending after March 1, 2017, for Abbott Green employees who were employed as of June 30, 2017, employer matching contributions are made at the rate of either (i) 100% of a 1% deferral of eligible earnings or (ii) 5% of eligible earnings for a deferral of 2% or more of eligible earnings.  A true-up employer matching contribution is made for eligible participants as of the end of the year if necessary to reach a full 1% or 5% employer matching contribution, as applicable.  Employer contributions are invested each pay period according to the participant’s investment elections.

Cash dividends on Abbott common shares are (1) paid in cash to the participants or beneficiaries, (2) paid to the Plan and distributed in cash to participants or beneficiaries no later than 90 days after the close of the Plan year for which paid or (3) paid to the Plan and credited to the accounts in which shares are held, as elected by each participant or beneficiary in accordance with rules established by the administrator.

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Abbott Laboratories Stock Retirement Plan

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - CONTINUED

December 31, 2017 and 2016

NOTE A - DESCRIPTION OF THE PLAN - Continued

Contributions and Vesting - Continued

On January 1, 2013, Abbott separated into two publicly traded companies — Abbott and AbbVie Inc. (“AbbVie”).  The separation of Abbott and AbbVie was a tax-free distribution where Abbott shareholders received one share of AbbVie stock for every share of Abbott held as of the close of business on December 12, 2012, the record date for the distribution.  Participants who received AbbVie stock through this distribution may continue to hold the stock in their Plan accounts but may not make new contributions or transfer existing contributions or earnings to purchase AbbVie stock in the Plan; however, participants may elect to reinvest their AbbVie dividends in AbbVie stock. If no election is made, AbbVie dividends are invested in the Plan’s default investment option.

Participants may direct the Trustee to sell all or a portion of the Abbott and AbbVie common shares held in their accounts and reinvest the proceeds in any of the other available investment options.

Participants are at all times fully vested in their own contributions and earnings thereon.  Vesting in employer contributions and earnings thereon is based on the following vesting schedule for participants excluding Abbott Green participants:

The Abbott Green matching contributions vest 20% each year, until full vesting at five years (with accelerated vesting if the participant dies, attains age 65, or becomes disabled).

Non-vested portions of employer contributions and earnings thereon are forfeited as of an employee’s termination date.  Forfeitures are used to (1) restore any forfeitures of participants who returned to service with Abbott within a given period of time, (2) pay Plan expenses and (3) reduce future employer contributions if terminated participants do not return to service within the given period of time.  In 2017, forfeitures reduced Abbott’s employer contributions by approximately $2.1 million.  Approximately $257,000 and $351,500 in forfeitures were available at the end of 2017 and 2016, respectively.

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Abbott Laboratories Stock Retirement Plan

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - CONTINUED

December 31, 2017 and 2016

NOTE A - DESCRIPTION OF THE PLAN - Continued

Distributions and In-Service Withdrawals

Following retirement, termination or death (or for some participants from merged-in plans, upon disability), participants or their beneficiaries may elect to receive a distribution in installments, in a single lump sum or in a partial lump sum.  Participants may elect a direct rollover of their accounts.  Also, upon termination, participants may elect to defer distribution to a future date but, after termination of employment, distribution must be made by the 1st of April following the year the participant reaches age 70 ½ or, if earlier, the 31st of December following the year in which the participant dies.  Interest, dividends and other earnings will continue to accrue on such deferred amounts.

Prior to termination, participants are permitted to withdraw their after-tax contributions (after-tax contributions made on or after January 8, 2016 may be withdrawn from the Plan only after being held for two or more years) and rollover contributions (including Roth rollover accounts and merged-in plan rollover accounts) and, after age 59 ½, may also withdraw pretax contributions.  Distributions are made in cash or, to the extent contained in the participant’s account, a participant may elect distribution of Abbott and AbbVie common shares, and in each case, subject to certain limitations.

Notes Receivable from Participants

Participants may convert their vested account balances into one or two loans to themselves.  The borrowing may not exceed the lesser of the current market value of the assets allocated to their vested accounts or 50% of all of their Plan accounts up to $50,000, subject to Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) limitations and restrictions.  Participants pay interest on such borrowings at the prime rate in effect at the time the participant loan is made.  Loans must be repaid within five years (or by the employee’s anticipated retirement date, if sooner) unless the loan is used for the purchase of the primary residence of the employee, in which case the repayment period can be extended to a period of fifteen years (or until the employee’s anticipated retirement date, if sooner).  Repayment is made through periodic payroll deductions or by sending in payments, but a loan may be repaid in a lump sum at any time.  Post-termination loan repayments are permitted.  For employees whose account is distributed during the repayment period, the balance of the outstanding loan is netted from their Plan distribution.

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Abbott Laboratories Stock Retirement Plan

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - CONTINUED

December 31, 2017 and 2016

NOTE B - SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of Accounting

The financial statements have been prepared using the accrual basis of accounting.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, and changes therein, and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities.  Actual results may differ from those estimates.

Investment Valuation

The Plan uses the following methods and significant assumptions to estimate the fair value of investments:

Common stock, mutual funds, REITs and futures contracts - Valued at the published market price per share or unit multiplied by the number of respective shares or units held.

Collective trust funds and Private 40-Act mutual funds - Valued at the NAV provided by the administrator of the fund.  The NAV is used as a practical expedient to estimate fair value.  The NAV is based on the value of the underlying assets owned by the fund, minus its liabilities, and then divided by the number of shares outstanding.  Redemption from the funds is permitted daily.  The Private 40-Act mutual funds agree to redeem shares solely in cash up to the lesser of $250,000 or 1% of the fund’s net assets during any 90-day period for any one shareholder.  In consideration of the best interests of the remaining shareholders, the Private 40-Act mutual funds reserve the right to pay any redemption proceeds exceeding this amount in whole or in part by a distribution in kind of securities held by the funds in lieu of cash. It is highly unlikely that shares would ever be redeemed in kind.

Corporate debt and government debt - Valued at the published market price or prices obtained from independent financial services industry-recognized vendors multiplied by the number of respective units held.  Prices obtained from vendors are on the basis of bid or mid evaluations in accordance to a region’s market convention, using factors which include but are not limited to market quotations, yields, maturities, and the bond’s terms and conditions.  Proprietary methods are used to arrive at the evaluated price, which represent the price a dealer would pay for a security.

Certificate of deposit - Valued at amortized cost, which approximates fair value given the instruments’ short duration of less than 130 days.

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Abbott Laboratories Stock Retirement Plan

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - CONTINUED

December 31, 2017 and 2016

NOTE B - SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES - Continued

Investment Valuation - Continued

The following tables summarize the basis used to measure investments at fair value at December 31, 2017 and 2016 (dollars in thousands):

The Private 40-Act mutual funds are not direct filing entities.  These funds invest in fixed income instruments of varying maturities.  The investment objective of one fund is to seek maximum current income and the other is to seek maximum total return, both being consistent with preservation of capital and liquidity.

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Abbott Laboratories Stock Retirement Plan

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - CONTINUED

December 31, 2017 and 2016

NOTE B - SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES - Continued

Notes Receivable from Participants

Notes receivable from participants are measured at their unpaid balance plus any accrued but unpaid interest.  Delinquent loans are reclassified as distributions based upon the terms of the Plan.  No allowance for credit losses has been recorded as of December 31, 2017 or 2016.

Income Recognition

Purchases and sales of securities are recorded on a trade-date basis.  Interest income is recorded on an accrual basis.  Dividends are recorded on the ex-dividend date.  Net realized and unrealized appreciation/depreciation is recorded in the accompanying statement of changes in net assets available for benefits as net appreciation in fair value of investments.

Administrative Expenses

Participants are charged transaction fees for loan processing and commissions on purchases and sales of Abbott shares and sales of AbbVie stock.  Investment fees for mutual funds, collective trust, managed accounts and money market funds are charged against the net assets of the respective fund.  Abbott pays other record-keeping and administration fees, where applicable.

Payment of Benefits

Benefits are recorded when paid.

NOTE C - INVESTMENTS

Distributions of Abbott common shares and conversions of participants’ common share account balances to participant loans or other investment options are recorded at fair market value.

A summary of Abbott common share data as of December 31, 2017 and 2016 is presented below:

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Abbott Laboratories Stock Retirement Plan

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - CONTINUED

December 31, 2017 and 2016

NOTE C — INVESTMENTS - Continued

In general, the investments provided by the Plan are exposed to various risks, such as interest rate, credit and overall market volatility risks.  Due to the level of risk associated with certain investment securities, it is reasonably possible that changes in the values of investment securities will occur in the near term and that such changes could materially affect participant accounts and the amounts reported in the statements of net assets available for benefits.

NOTE D - RELATED-PARTY AND PARTY-IN-INTEREST TRANSACTIONS

A significant portion of the Plan’s assets is invested in Abbott common shares.

Participants pay fees to the recordkeeper for loan transaction processing and for commissions on purchases and sales of Abbott shares and sales of AbbVie stock.  These transactions qualify as permitted party-in-interest transactions.

NOTE E - PLAN TERMINATION

The Plan may be terminated at any time by Abbott upon written notice to the Trustee and Committee.  All participants’ account balances would become fully vested upon Plan termination.  Upon termination of the Plan, distributions of each participant’s share in the Trust, as determined by the terms of the Plan, would be made to each participant.  At the present time, Abbott has no intention of terminating the Plan.

NOTE F - TAX STATUS

The IRS has determined and informed Abbott by a letter dated May 19, 2017, that the Plan and related Trust are designed in accordance with applicable sections of the IRC.  The Plan has been amended since the applicable date of the determination letter.  However, the Plan administrator believes that the Plan is designed and is currently being operated, in all material respects, in accordance with the applicable requirements of the IRC.

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Abbott Laboratories Stock Retirement Plan

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - CONTINUED

December 31, 2017 and 2016

NOTE F - TAX STATUS - Continued

Accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America require Plan management to evaluate tax positions taken by the Plan and recognize a tax liability if the organization has taken an uncertain position that more likely than not would not be sustained upon examination by the IRS or other applicable taxing authorities.  The Plan administrator has analyzed the tax positions taken by the Plan, and has concluded that as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, there are no uncertain positions taken or expected to be taken that would require recognition of a liability or disclosure in the financial statements.  The Plan is subject to routine audits by taxing jurisdictions.  There are currently no audits in progress.

NOTE G — SUBSEQUENT EVENTS

The Company has evaluated subsequent events from December 31, 2017 through the date these financial statements were issued.  Other than described below, there were no subsequent events that require recognition or additional disclosure in these financial statements.

In January 2018, certain Plan provisions affecting Abbott Green employees changed.  Specifically, effective for the first payroll period ending on or after January 1, 2018, Abbott Green employees may defer up to 25% of eligible earnings as pre-tax contributions, after-tax contributions, or a combination of both, and the year-end true-up matching contribution was eliminated.  On or after January 1, 2018, Abbott Green employees fully vest in employer contributions at two years of service (with accelerated vesting if the participant dies, attains age 65, or becomes disabled).

Additionally, St. Jude Medical LLC employees in the United States became eligible to participate in the Plan as Abbott Green employees effective for the first payroll period ending on or after January 1, 2018.

On January 19, 2018, the St. Jude Medical, Inc. Retirement Savings Plan merged with and into the Plan.  Assets totaling approximately $1.6 billion transferred into the Plan.

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SUPPLEMENTAL SCHEDULE

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Abbott Laboratories Stock Retirement Plan

SCHEDULE H, LINE 4i - SCHEDULE OF ASSETS (HELD AT END OF YEAR)

December 31, 2017

(Dollars in thousands)

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Abbott Laboratories Stock Retirement Plan

SCHEDULE H, LINE 4i - SCHEDULE OF ASSETS (HELD AT END OF YEAR) - Continued

December 31, 2017

(Dollars in thousands)

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Abbott Laboratories Stock Retirement Plan

SCHEDULE H, LINE 4i - SCHEDULE OF ASSETS (HELD AT END OF YEAR) - Continued

December 31, 2017

(Dollars in thousands)

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Abbott Laboratories Stock Retirement Plan

SCHEDULE H, LINE 4i - SCHEDULE OF ASSETS (HELD AT END OF YEAR) - Continued

December 31, 2017

(Dollars in thousands)

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Abbott Laboratories Stock Retirement Plan

SCHEDULE H, LINE 4i - SCHEDULE OF ASSETS (HELD AT END OF YEAR) - Continued

December 31, 2017

(Dollars in thousands)