Moody National Bank Trust Division Sells 141 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Moody National Bank Trust Division lessened its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,991 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 141 shares during the quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,917,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Three Seasons Wealth LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,428,000. Welch Group LLC raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 68,653 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,744,000 after acquiring an additional 3,479 shares in the last quarter. Voleon Capital Management LP bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $273,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,095,443 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $133,691,000 after acquiring an additional 57,499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 152,719 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $17,274,000 after acquiring an additional 2,774 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $142.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $77,651.54. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 31,970 shares in the company, valued at $4,417,294.90. The trade was a 1.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 34,058 shares in the company, valued at $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 95,278 shares of company stock worth $12,745,859 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $132.80 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $130.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $125.06. The company has a market cap of $231.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.36, a PEG 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 has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.38 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

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.