Essex Financial Services Inc. Has $2.76 Million Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Essex Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 24,436 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,764,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 25.6% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,319,347 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,518,539,000 after purchasing an additional 2,711,586 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 76,720,429 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $8,746,896,000 after buying an additional 2,323,807 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 13,194.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,679,805 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $191,515,000 after buying an additional 1,667,170 shares during the last quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 47.1% in the third quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. now owns 3,749,502 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $427,481,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200,409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 22,372.2% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,201,364 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $135,886,000 after purchasing an additional 1,196,018 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:ABT opened at $131.36 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $117.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $115.24. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $132.50. The stock has a market cap of $227.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.17, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.75.

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

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price target (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

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.