Bath Savings Trust Co Grows Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Bath Savings Trust Co increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.4% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 166,744 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 612 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories accounts for about 2.3% of Bath Savings Trust Co’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Bath Savings Trust Co’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $22,119,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,373,461,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 383.1% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,358,698 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $945,453,000 after purchasing an additional 6,628,310 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $635,056,000. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,688,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,229,026 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,056,860 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,494,851,000 after purchasing an additional 2,060,650 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $77,651.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares of the company’s stock, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total value of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 95,278 shares of company stock valued at $12,745,859. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $145.00 price target (up from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT stock opened at $132.80 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $130.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $125.06. The stock has a market cap of $231.04 billion, a PE ratio of 17.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share 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 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.