Essex Financial Services Inc. Purchases 118 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Essex Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,436 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,764,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 61.7% during the fourth quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,944 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $672,000 after purchasing an additional 2,269 shares in the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 29,084 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,290,000 after buying an additional 408 shares during the period. Paladin Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Paladin Wealth LLC now owns 6,899 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $780,000 after buying an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 11,788 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,333,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arlington Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Arlington Partners LLC now owns 38,221 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $4,323,000 after acquiring an additional 2,066 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT stock opened at $131.36 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $117.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $115.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $132.50. The stock has a market cap of $227.84 billion, a PE ratio of 17.17, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.75.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.