Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Stock Position Raised by Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC

Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 468,938 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 2,205 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories accounts for about 2.6% 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 $48,727,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1,677.8% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 320 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on ABT shares. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Edward Jones cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies assumed coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:ABT opened at $114.15 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $198.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.56, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.68. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $89.67 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The business has a fifty day moving average of $110.32 and a 200-day moving average of $108.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current 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.