Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Has $27.26 Million Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 262,366 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 13,844 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $27,263,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 156,467,081 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $17,222,332,000 after buying an additional 701,740 shares during the period. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $16,764,000. Garde Capital Inc. grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 1,858 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $205,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the period. Sectoral Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 31.4% during the fourth quarter. Sectoral Asset Management Inc. now owns 68,998 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,595,000 after buying an additional 16,500 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 894,797 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $98,490,000 after buying an additional 8,224 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on ABT. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup increased 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. Edward Jones downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price target on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.33.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $114.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.18. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $89.67 and a one year high of $121.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $198.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.56, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $110.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $108.64.

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