MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. Acquires 604 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 41,080 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories makes up 0.6% of MidWestOne Financial Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $4,683,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Simplify Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 67.3% during the 3rd quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,083 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,606,000 after acquiring an additional 5,664 shares in the last quarter. Dundas Partners LLP raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% in the second quarter. Dundas Partners LLP now owns 330,227 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $34,313,000 after purchasing an additional 6,897 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 19.6% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 193,764 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $22,091,000 after buying an additional 31,720 shares during the last quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 110.1% in the 3rd quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 31,148 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,551,000 after buying an additional 16,325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proactive Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,176,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 39.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $114.90 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $116.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $110.93. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $121.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $199.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.92, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. Analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on ABT. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.07.

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.