Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX Acquires New Shares in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 27,998 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $3,201,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at about $515,000. American Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. American Trust now owns 30,661 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $3,468,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 18,812 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $2,128,000 after buying an additional 656 shares during the period. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Finally, Aurdan Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,416,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 34,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,625,404.96. This trade represents a 55.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,278 shares of company stock worth $12,745,859 over the last quarter. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ABT. Bank of America increased their target price 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 increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $145.00 target price (up from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Argus raised Abbott Laboratories to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE:ABT traded down $0.88 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $132.06. The stock had a trading volume of 3,615,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,135,854. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $130.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $124.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $229.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year 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.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $10.38 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share 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.