Magnolia Private Wealth LLC Acquires Shares of 1,960 Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Magnolia Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,960 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $260,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,373,461,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 383.1% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,358,698 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $945,453,000 after purchasing an additional 6,628,310 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $635,056,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 15,420.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,102,648 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $676,866,000 after buying an additional 5,069,771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $7,688,160,000 after buying an additional 2,229,026 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on ABT. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $142.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE ABT traded up $0.55 during trading on Thursday, hitting $135.83. 2,151,642 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,083,624. The firm has a market capitalization of $236.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $131.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $126.12. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. On average, equities analysts predict 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.