Abner Herrman & Brock LLC Makes New Investment in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Abner Herrman & Brock LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 137,395 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $18,225,000. Abbott Laboratories accounts for approximately 2.3% of Abner Herrman & Brock LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Cim LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Cim LLC now owns 16,967 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,919,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,236 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Capital Square LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Square LLC now owns 2,941 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 954 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC now owns 2,827 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $133.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23. The stock has a market cap of $232.58 billion, a PE ratio of 17.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $130.46 and a 200-day moving average of $125.24.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $142.59.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,058 shares in the company, valued at $4,415,960.28. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $77,651.54. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 31,970 shares in the company, valued at $4,417,294.90. This trade represents a 1.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 95,278 shares of company stock valued at $12,745,859. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Profile

Abbott Laboratories, together with its subsidiaries, discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells health care products worldwide. It operates in four segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices. The company provides generic pharmaceuticals for the treatment of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, irritable bowel syndrome or biliary spasm, intrahepatic cholestasis or depressive symptoms, gynecological disorder, hormone replacement therapy, dyslipidemia, hypertension, hypothyroidism, Ménière’s disease and vestibular vertigo, pain, fever, inflammation, and migraine, as well as provides anti-infective clarithromycin, influenza vaccine, and products to regulate physiological rhythm of the colon.