Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Webster Bank N. A.

Webster Bank N. A. cut its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,643 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 278 shares during the quarter. Webster Bank N. A.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,544,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Cim LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Cim LLC now owns 16,967 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,919,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,236 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $140,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Capital Square LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital Square LLC now owns 2,941 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $368,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 954 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LMG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,161 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $244,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the 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 $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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $77,651.54. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,417,294.90. The trade was a 1.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 95,278 shares of company stock valued at $12,745,859 over the last 90 days. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.6%

ABT opened at $132.80 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $130.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $125.06. The company has a market cap of $231.04 billion, a PE ratio of 17.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.23. 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 (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $10.38 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on ABT. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $142.59.

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.