Weybosset Research & Management LLC Decreases Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Weybosset Research & Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 31.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,880 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 870 shares during the period. Weybosset Research & Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $205,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 38,966,499 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $4,278,132,000 after purchasing an additional 4,886,954 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,196,788 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,151,497,000 after purchasing an additional 598,164 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 104,649.4% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,247,436 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,320,866,000 after purchasing an additional 30,218,560 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 40.5% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 20,820,152 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,108,249,000 after purchasing an additional 6,003,997 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $1,893,715,000. 73.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ABT. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $112.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Friday, July 21st. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 21st. Wolfe Research raised shares of Abbott Laboratories from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 21st. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $120.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 10,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.03, for a total value of $1,092,312.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at $6,829,785.81. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 10,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.03, for a total value of $1,092,312.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at $6,829,785.81. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel J. Starks sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.76, for a total transaction of $5,688,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,775,316 shares in the company, valued at approximately $770,759,948.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $100.99 on Tuesday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $93.25 and a 1 year high of $115.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The company’s 50-day moving average is $106.17 and its 200 day moving average is $105.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $175.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.47, a P/E/G ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 0.68.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.03. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 12.83% and a return on equity of 20.50%. The company had revenue of $9.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.43 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was down 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current year.

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 Established Pharmaceutical Products segment 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.