Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB decreased its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,308,351 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 35,783 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories accounts for 0.7% of Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $173,553,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $200,000. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 82,443 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $9,325,000 after buying an additional 15,692 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,719 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,850,000 after buying an additional 4,755 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,120,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $316,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:ABT opened at $133.41 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $130.77 and a 200-day moving average of $126.01. The firm has a market cap of $232.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion during 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%. Analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on ABT shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. 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 report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays lifted 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Four 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $142.59.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 34,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,415,960.28. This 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 the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

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.