Abbott (ABT) is Fringe Winner in Mylan/Teva/Perrigo Chatter

Abbott (NYSE: ABT) is seeing benefit as one of its largest holdings gains on M&A chatter.

Bloomberg pointed out on Thursday night that Abbott has the largest stake in Mylan (Nasdaq: MYL), which has been pursuing an acquisition of Perrigo (NYSE: PRGO). Since Mylan began the effort, and as Teva Pharma (NYSE: TEVA) has moved to acquire Mylan, shares of Mylan have surged, gaining over 20 percent since February.

The value of Abbott's stake -- roughly 70 million shares -- is said to be about $5 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That's down from the 110 million it originally received from Mylan.

While Abbott might not be looking to land a major deal, investors might be clamoring for more than the $100 million or so that Abbott might pay to takeover a company. Some peg the sweet spot in the $2 to $4 billion range. That would also be Abbott's largest acquisition since splitting with AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) in 2013.

Market watches think Abbott might also go after Perrigo, or potential take a look at St. Jude Medical (NYSE: STJ) or Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE: EW). The companies have market caps of $28.5 billion, $20 billion, and $13.5 billion, respectively. All also appear rather rich right now and, if Abbott can't find an acquisition target, the company might resort to a stock buyback plan.

Shares of Abbott are up over 2.5 percent.

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