Virtu Financial LLC Decreases Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Virtu Financial LLC lowered its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 49.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,390 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 18,921 shares during the quarter. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,015,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ABT. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.8% during the second quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 11,165 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,160,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Encompass More Asset Management raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Encompass More Asset Management now owns 3,002 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Wynn Capital LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 3,427 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $390,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. NORTHSTAR ASSET MANAGEMENT Co LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. NORTHSTAR ASSET MANAGEMENT Co LLC now owns 5,396 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $613,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hummer Financial Advisory Services Inc increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% during the first quarter. Hummer Financial Advisory Services Inc now owns 8,290 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $942,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. 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 raised their price target 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. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Edward Jones downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.80.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:ABT opened at $118.13 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $205.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $109.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $108.56. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $89.67 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. The business had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.37 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

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.