Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Sells 3,598 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lowered its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 1.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 234,062 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 3,598 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories comprises approximately 1.5% of Chesley Taft & Associates LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $31,048,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $200,000. Capital & Planning LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 8,673 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $981,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 82,443 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $9,325,000 after purchasing an additional 15,692 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,719 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $5,850,000 after purchasing an additional 4,755 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,120,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 34,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ABT. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 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 given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $0.33 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $133.61. 3,866,397 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,155,649. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $141.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The firm has a market cap of $232.45 billion, a PE ratio of 17.46, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.73. The company's fifty day moving average is $130.71 and its 200-day moving average is $125.66.

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