SYM FINANCIAL Corp Makes New Investment in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

SYM FINANCIAL Corp bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,742 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $285,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 6.6% during the second quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 25,457 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,645,000 after buying an additional 1,579 shares during the last quarter. Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 12.3% in the second quarter. Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC now owns 33,898 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,522,000 after purchasing an additional 3,716 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 4.2% in the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 27,665 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,875,000 after purchasing an additional 1,103 shares during the last quarter. TradeLink Capital LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth $229,000. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 27.1% in the second quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 28,732 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,986,000 after purchasing an additional 6,134 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Edward Jones lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.80.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $116.84 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. The stock has a market cap of $203.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $108.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $108.74. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $89.67 and a 1 year high of $121.64.

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

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.