Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 15.8% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,571 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $474,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ABT. Three Seasons Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $1,428,000. Voleon Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $273,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.5% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,774 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 75.6% in the 4th quarter. DSM Capital Partners LLC now owns 859,404 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $97,207,000 after acquiring an additional 370,049 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total value of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 34,058 shares in the company, valued at $4,415,960.28. This trade represents 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. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $134.88 on Thursday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $141.23. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $131.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $126.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $234.67 billion, a PE ratio of 17.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.38 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the topic of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Four 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.