Vest Financial LLC Buys 29,955 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Vest Financial LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 500,313 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,955 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories makes up approximately 1.0% of Vest Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $56,590,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cidel Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 62.9% in the fourth quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 321,220 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $36,333,000 after acquiring an additional 124,023 shares during the period. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 95.6% in the 4th quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC now owns 4,004 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $453,000 after purchasing an additional 1,957 shares during the period. Northstar Group Inc. grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Northstar Group Inc. now owns 6,775 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $766,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Appleton Partners Inc. MA increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA now owns 14,156 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,601,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Close Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $1,132,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 target price (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE:ABT opened at $129.11 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.88, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $117.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $114.93. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $132.50.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

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.