Investment Advisory Group LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Investment Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,412 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $453,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during 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 in the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $145.00 price target (up from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT stock opened at $133.61 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.23. The company has a market cap of $232.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.73. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $130.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $125.90.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results 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 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 analysts’ expectations of $10.38 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 34,058 shares in the company, valued at $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.