City Holding Co. Grows Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

City Holding Co. increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.3% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 43,350 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,392 shares during the period. City Holding Co.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $5,750,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,373,461,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 383.1% during the 4th 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 period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $635,056,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 15,420.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,102,648 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $676,866,000 after purchasing an additional 5,069,771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 2,229,026 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:ABT opened at $133.61 on Monday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.23. The stock has a market cap of $232.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.73. 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $130.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $125.90.

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 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total value of $337,116.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on ABT shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. 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. Barclays increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Four investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $142.59.

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.