Toronto Dominion Bank Boosts Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 727,351 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after purchasing an additional 20,457 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $82,269,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ABT. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,373,461,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in 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 period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $635,056,000. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% in 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. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,056,860 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $2,494,851,000 after purchasing an additional 2,060,650 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Abbott Laboratories news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were 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 $4,415,960.28. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $131,123.33. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,381 shares in the company, valued at $10,277,222.77. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 95,278 shares of company stock valued at $12,745,859. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $0.40 on Friday, hitting $131.10. 2,171,214 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,119,324. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $141.23. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $129.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.52. The company has a market cap of $228.10 billion, a PE ratio of 17.12, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. Sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on ABT shares. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price 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. Wall Street Zen lowered 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 report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $142.59.

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.