New Hampshire Trust Reduces Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

New Hampshire Trust trimmed its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 9.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,033 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,294 shares during the period. New Hampshire Trust’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,729,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,373,461,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 383.1% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,358,698 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $945,453,000 after purchasing an additional 6,628,310 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $635,056,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 15,420.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,102,648 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $676,866,000 after acquiring an additional 5,069,771 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,688,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,229,026 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 34,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,415,960.28. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at $9,625,404.96. This trade represents a 55.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,278 shares of company stock worth $12,745,859 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $145.00 price target (up previously from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $133.68 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $232.58 billion, a PE ratio of 17.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The company’s fifty day moving average is $130.46 and its 200-day moving average is $125.17. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. Equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 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.