Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 402,365 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 7,847 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $43,866,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Scissortail Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter worth about $1,475,747,000. Aspire Private Capital LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter worth about $16,271,874,000. Graham Capital Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter worth about $244,037,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 134.5% in the 1st quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 258 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $316,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. 73.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 10,400 shares of the company’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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,829,785.81. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 10,400 shares of the company’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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,829,785.81. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel J. Starks sold 50,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 6,775,316 shares in the company, valued at $770,759,948.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE ABT traded down $0.91 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $101.74. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,303,319 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,914,443. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $106.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $93.25 and a 1 year high of $115.83. The company has a market capitalization of $176.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.72, a PEG ratio of 4.59 and a beta of 0.68.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.03. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.50% and a net margin of 12.83%. The company had revenue of $9.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.4 EPS for the current fiscal 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.