Bernard Wealth Management Corp. Acquires New Shares in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,017 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $454,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the 4th 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 period. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at $9,625,404.96. This trade represents a 55.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of Abbott Laboratories 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 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 95,278 shares of company stock valued at $12,745,859. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on ABT shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective 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. Bank of America increased 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. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE ABT traded up $0.83 on Friday, reaching $133.68. 14,235,633 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,164,763. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $141.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $232.58 billion, a PE ratio of 17.47, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $130.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $125.17. 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 - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 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 company had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.38 billion. Analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal 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.