Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC Trims Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 8.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,688 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 332 shares during the quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $489,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Three Seasons Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,428,000. Welch Group LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 68,653 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,744,000 after buying an additional 3,479 shares during the period. Voleon Capital Management LP bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth approximately $273,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,095,443 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $133,691,000 after buying an additional 57,499 shares during the period. Finally, Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 152,719 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $17,274,000 after acquiring an additional 2,774 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total value of $12,199,967.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,625,404.96. The trade was a 55.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of ABT stock opened at $133.68 on Monday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $232.58 billion, a PE ratio of 17.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $130.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $125.31.

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

About Abbott Laboratories

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.