Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Takes Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,397,921 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $158,119,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned approximately 0.08% of Abbott Laboratories as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $142.59.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $77,651.54. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,417,294.90. This trade represents a 1.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 95,278 shares of company stock valued at $12,745,859 in the last 90 days. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT stock traded up $0.78 during trading on Thursday, reaching $132.80. The company had a trading volume of 3,078,234 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,123,673. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $141.23. The company has a market cap of $231.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $130.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $124.95.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

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.