First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Sells 50,671 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. reduced its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 57.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,603 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 50,671 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.'s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $4,988,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In related 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on ABT. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target 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 raised 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. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE ABT traded up $1.05 on Thursday, hitting $136.33. 5,082,366 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,095,086. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $141.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $237.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.73. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $131.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $126.12.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.38 billion. Research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal 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.