Sara Bay Financial Purchases 709 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Sara Bay Financial boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 9.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,416 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 709 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories accounts for approximately 0.5% of Sara Bay Financial’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Sara Bay Financial’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Congress Asset Management Co. raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 6.3% during the first quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 3,529 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $468,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Impact Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.9% in the first quarter. Impact Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,810 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,893,000 after purchasing an additional 826 shares during the last quarter. First National Corp MA ADV increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.1% in the first quarter. First National Corp MA ADV now owns 11,270 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,495,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.6% in the first quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,185 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,882,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Consilio Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.8% in the first quarter. Consilio Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,249 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $4,415,960.28. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT stock opened at $133.61 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $141.23. The firm has a market cap of $232.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.73. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $130.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $125.77.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on ABT. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $142.59.

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.