Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Stake Lifted by William Blair Investment Management LLC

William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 118,828 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 4,166 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $12,347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1,677.8% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 320 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were 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 approximately $25,617,068.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Edward Jones downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 target price for the company. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.80.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $117.63 on Tuesday. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $89.67 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.68. The company has a market cap of $204.63 billion, a PE ratio of 36.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $109.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $108.57.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $10.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.37 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect 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.