EP Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 54,044 Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 54,044 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $5,472,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Level Four Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 105.0% during the first quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 159,017 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $16,102,000 after acquiring an additional 81,436 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,282,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 35.0% during the first quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 12,768 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,293,000 after acquiring an additional 3,309 shares in the last quarter. Prelude Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 46.9% during the first quarter. Prelude Capital Management LLC now owns 4,671 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $473,000 after buying an additional 1,492 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Equity Partners bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter worth $419,000. Institutional investors own 73.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $102.71 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $178.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.05, a P/E/G ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.68. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $106.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.21. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $93.25 and a twelve month high of $115.83.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 20th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $9.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.71 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.50% and a net margin of 12.83%. The company’s revenue was down 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.43 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ABT. Mizuho upped their price target on 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 Abbott Laboratories from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 21st. Barclays upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $112.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Friday, July 21st. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $120.82.

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 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.