Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Position Boosted by Bridges Investment Management Inc.

Bridges Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 173.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 252,646 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 160,120 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $26,252,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1,677.8% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 320 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 302 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value of $16,492,852.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,617,068.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 target price for the company. Edward Jones cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.33.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $114.15 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $198.58 billion, a PE ratio of 35.56, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $110.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.68. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $89.67 and a twelve month high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.37 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.