Primecap Management Co. CA Sells 11,405 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Primecap Management Co. CA trimmed its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 930,926 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 11,405 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA owned 0.05% of Abbott Laboratories worth $96,733,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1,677.8% in the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 320 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 302 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $118.13 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $109.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $108.56. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $89.67 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $205.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. The firm had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on ABT. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Barclays lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the 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 owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.