Hsbc Holdings PLC Boosts Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 12.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,328,995 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 469,149 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $450,511,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth $28,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1,677.8% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 320 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ABT. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Edward Jones cut Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,617,068.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:ABT opened at $118.13 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.68. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $109.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $205.50 billion, a PE ratio of 36.80, a P/E/G 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.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.37 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. Analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS 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.