Piscataqua Savings Bank Lowers Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Piscataqua Savings Bank decreased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 26,726 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 136 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories accounts for approximately 2.4% of Piscataqua Savings Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Piscataqua Savings Bank’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,914,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV now owns 22,785 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,307,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. now owns 3,236 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Delta Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Delta Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,475 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $656,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 21.2% in the first quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 548 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital City Trust Co. FL lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL now owns 4,638 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $470,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. 73.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 10,400 shares of Abbott Laboratories 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 in the company, valued at approximately $6,829,785.81. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 10,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.03, for a total transaction of $1,092,312.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 document filed 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 6,775,316 shares in the company, valued at approximately $770,759,948.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $100.99 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.64. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $93.25 and a one year high of $115.83. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $106.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.25 billion, a PE ratio of 34.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 0.68.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.08 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $9.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.43 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.