Greystone Financial Group LLC Reduces Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Greystone Financial Group LLC decreased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 10.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 90,530 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 10,666 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories comprises approximately 2.2% of Greystone Financial Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Greystone Financial Group LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $12,009,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth approximately $200,000. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 82,443 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $9,325,000 after buying an additional 15,692 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% during the fourth 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. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $29,120,000. Finally, Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp now owns 2,666 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of Abbott Laboratories 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 of the company's stock, valued at $4,415,960.28. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $145.00 price target (up from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price 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. Four equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE ABT traded up $1.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $136.33. 5,082,366 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,095,093. 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 market capitalization of $237.19 billion, a PE ratio of 17.82, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $141.23. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $131.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $126.12.

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