Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. Buys 6,451 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 6.8% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 101,422 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,451 shares during the quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $13,454,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Three Seasons Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at $1,428,000. Welch Group LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 68,653 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,744,000 after buying an additional 3,479 shares in the last quarter. Voleon Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth about $273,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,095,443 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $133,691,000 after buying an additional 57,499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 152,719 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $17,274,000 after buying an additional 2,774 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares in the company, valued at $4,417,294.90. The trade was a 1.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total value of $337,116.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 34,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 95,278 shares of company stock worth $12,745,859. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $133.68 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $141.23. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $130.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $125.17. The company has a market capitalization of $232.58 billion, a PE ratio of 17.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. 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) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.38 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on ABT. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $145.00 price objective (up from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $142.59.

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.