Simon Quick Advisors LLC Purchases 4,176 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Simon Quick Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 20.8% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 24,231 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 4,176 shares during the quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,214,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Three Seasons Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,428,000. Voleon Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $273,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,095,443 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $133,691,000 after purchasing an additional 57,499 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 152,719 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $17,274,000 after purchasing an additional 2,774 shares during the period. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 75.6% in the 4th quarter. DSM Capital Partners LLC now owns 859,404 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $97,207,000 after purchasing an additional 370,049 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total value of $337,116.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 34,058 shares in the company, valued at $4,415,960.28. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.6%

ABT opened at $134.88 on Thursday. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $131.03 and its 200 day moving average is $126.12. The stock has a market cap of $234.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion for 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on ABT. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $142.59.

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.