TFR Capital LLC. Acquires Shares of 1,920 Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

TFR Capital LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,920 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 168,645,397 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $19,075,481,000 after buying an additional 739,260 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 54,097,005 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $6,118,903,000 after buying an additional 795,073 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,668,834 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $4,023,027,000 after buying an additional 765,636 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 26,392,302 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $2,985,233,000 after buying an additional 581,325 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $142.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $77,651.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,417,294.90. The trade was a 1.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 34,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 a total of 95,278 shares of company stock valued at $12,745,859 in the last three months. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:ABT traded up $0.83 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $133.68. 14,235,633 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,164,763. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $130.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $125.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market cap of $232.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal 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.