Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,607 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 120 shares during the quarter. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,142,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $200,000. Capital & Planning LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 8,673 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $981,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 82,443 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $9,325,000 after purchasing an additional 15,692 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,719 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $5,850,000 after buying an additional 4,755 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,120,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total value of $12,199,967.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,625,404.96. This trade represents a 55.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the company’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 value of $337,116.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 34,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,415,960.28. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted 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. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $133.74 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $232.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.48, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $130.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $125.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The company had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current 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 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.