North Star Asset Management Inc. Increases Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

North Star Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 308,496 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after purchasing an additional 3,176 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories makes up approximately 1.5% of North Star Asset Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. North Star Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $34,894,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ABT. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $145.00 price objective (up previously from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Abbott Laboratories from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $142.59.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $77,651.54. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,417,294.90. This represents a 1.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 34,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 95,278 shares of company stock worth $12,745,859 in the last three months. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of ABT traded up $1.63 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $132.93. 5,590,795 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,140,449. The company has a market cap of $231.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.38, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $141.23. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $129.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $124.84.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. On average, equities 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.