Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Sells 3,598 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lowered its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 234,062 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 3,598 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories makes up approximately 1.5% of Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $31,048,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ABT shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.5%

ABT opened at $132.99 on Thursday. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $141.23. The stock has a market cap of $231.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $130.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $125.54. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The company had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

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.