Sargent Investment Group LLC Purchases 40,330 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Sargent Investment Group LLC raised its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 767.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,586 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 40,330 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories accounts for about 1.0% of Sargent Investment Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Sargent Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $4,737,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% during 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 raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $9,530,825,000 after acquiring an additional 7,527,778 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 70,177,564 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,976,382,000 after purchasing an additional 5,882,780 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter worth $341,777,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 493.1% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,401,190 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $249,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,996,320 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Edward Jones cut Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 target price for the company. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.80.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories 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 transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $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 currently owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $117.63 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $204.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $109.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $108.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $89.67 and a 1-year high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.37 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.