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

Vest Financial LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, according to 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 buying an additional 29,955 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories accounts for 1.0% of Vest Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $56,590,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Groupama Asset Managment increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41,557 shares during the period. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised 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. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays reissued 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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 owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT opened at $129.11 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $117.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $114.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.93 billion, a PE ratio of 16.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $132.50.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.85%.

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.