Contravisory Investment Management Inc. Purchases New Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,589 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $609,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $2,373,461,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 383.1% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,358,698 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $945,453,000 after acquiring an additional 6,628,310 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $635,056,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 15,420.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,102,648 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $676,866,000 after purchasing an additional 5,069,771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $7,688,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,229,026 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE:ABT traded up $0.73 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $133.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,576,936 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,153,382. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $232.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $130.69 and a 200-day moving average of $125.54.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 34,058 shares of the company's stock, 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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ABT shares. Barclays raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered Abbott Laboratories from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Four equities research 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.