Quantbot Technologies LP Buys 136,308 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 652.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 157,202 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 136,308 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories makes up about 0.8% of Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $16,335,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of ABT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 165,301,921 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $18,788,216,000 after buying an additional 8,834,840 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 86,588,614 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $9,530,825,000 after acquiring an additional 7,527,778 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 70,177,564 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,976,382,000 after purchasing an additional 5,882,780 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 32,236,101 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,548,228,000 after purchasing an additional 1,027,390 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,922,170 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,092,133,000 after purchasing an additional 228,039 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of 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 available through this link. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT stock opened at $116.40 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $109.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $108.57. The stock has a market cap of $202.49 billion, a PE ratio of 36.26, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $89.67 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.68.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $10.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Citigroup upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Edward Jones downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped 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 note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two investment 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 has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.80.

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.