Guardian Wealth Management Inc. Acquires 192 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Guardian Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 26,949 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories comprises about 2.1% of Guardian Wealth Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Guardian Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,800,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Encompass More Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% in the second quarter. Encompass More Asset Management now owns 3,002 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $312,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Wynn Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 3,427 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $390,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Hummer Financial Advisory Services Inc boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Hummer Financial Advisory Services Inc now owns 8,290 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $942,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. NORTHSTAR ASSET MANAGEMENT Co LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the first quarter. NORTHSTAR ASSET MANAGEMENT Co LLC now owns 5,396 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $613,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Addison Capital Co lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 5.4% in the first quarter. Addison Capital Co now owns 1,950 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $222,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ABT. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI cut their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Barclays raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.80.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE ABT opened at $116.40 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $109.24 and its 200-day moving average is $108.73. The firm has a market cap of $202.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $89.67 and a 12-month 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict 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.