Merit Financial Group LLC Boosts Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 7.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 54,329 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after buying an additional 3,989 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $7,207,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ABT. Cim LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Cim LLC now owns 16,967 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $1,919,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,236 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Capital Square LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital Square LLC now owns 2,941 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 954 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC now owns 2,827 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the business'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 value of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. The trade was a 7.09% 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. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ABT shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target 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. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Raymond James upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Four investment 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 MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of ABT traded up $0.73 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $133.69. 5,576,936 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,153,382. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $141.23. 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's 50 day moving average is $130.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $125.54. The company has a market capitalization of $232.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.48, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74.

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

Abbott Laboratories 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.