Griffith & Werner Inc. Invests $235,000 in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Griffith & Werner Inc. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,080 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $235,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on ABT. Bank of America boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Argus raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $142.59.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $131,123.33. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,381 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,277,222.77. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 31,970 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,417,294.90. This trade represents a 1.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 95,278 shares of company stock worth $12,745,859 over the last 90 days. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT stock traded up $1.63 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $132.93. 5,590,795 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,140,449. The company has a market cap of $231.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $141.23. The stock's 50 day moving average is $129.95 and its 200 day moving average is $124.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. On average, research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

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.