Plato Investment Management Ltd Purchases 2,987 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,510 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,987 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $4,625,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter worth $30,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in 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 valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price objective for the company. Barclays increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.80.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT stock opened at $116.40 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $89.67 and a one year high of $121.64. The company has a market cap of $202.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $109.24 and a 200-day moving average of $108.65. 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 (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.37 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.