Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Purchased by Waverly Advisors LLC

Waverly Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 19.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 87,165 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after purchasing an additional 13,952 shares during the quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $9,859,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in 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 period. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ABT. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of 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 increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $142.59.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of Abbott Laboratories 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 owns 31,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,417,294.90. This trade represents a 1.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $131,123.33. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,381 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,277,222.77. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 95,278 shares of company stock valued at $12,745,859 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.1%

Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $131.31. 6,144,711 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,142,655. 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 PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $129.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $124.67. 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 (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.38 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories 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.