EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 10.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 23,697 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 2,328 shares during the quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,608,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 25,085 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,761,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 12,287 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,352,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the period. Avion Wealth grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 591 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc now owns 3,423 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $377,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Investment Group LLC now owns 14,204 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,563,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.7 %

NYSE ABT traded up $1.73 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $104.69. The company had a trading volume of 2,794,755 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,616,461. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $89.67 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64. The company has a market capitalization of $182.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $108.89 and its 200 day moving average is $109.54.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.96%. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at $9,444,480. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,444,480. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 46,884 shares of company stock worth $5,153,916 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Raymond James reissued a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays lowered their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $120.60.

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.