Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC

Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC trimmed its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 464,309 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 2,105 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories comprises about 2.8% of Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $52,518,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total value of $12,199,967.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at $9,625,404.96. The trade was a 55.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 95,278 shares of company stock worth $12,745,859. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of 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 issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:ABT traded down $0.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $131.31. 4,399,990 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,134,793. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $129.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $124.52. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $228.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.38 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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.