First Long Island Investors LLC Sells 879 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

First Long Island Investors LLC lowered its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 139,696 shares of the company’s stock after selling 879 shares during the quarter. AbbVie comprises 2.2% of First Long Island Investors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. First Long Island Investors LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $27,587,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 1st quarter valued at $646,000. Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in AbbVie by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 8,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,592,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the period. M&G Plc acquired a new position in AbbVie in the 1st quarter worth $41,807,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC boosted its stake in AbbVie by 102.8% in the 1st quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 62,695 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,417,000 after purchasing an additional 31,781 shares during the period. Finally, Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC lifted its position in AbbVie by 21.0% during the 1st quarter. Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC now owns 22,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,176,000 after buying an additional 3,975 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ABBV. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Friday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.89.

AbbVie Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of ABBV stock traded down $2.90 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $166.73. 3,236,599 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,433,626. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.05 and a 12 month high of $207.32. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $192.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $180.76. The stock has a market cap of $294.64 billion, a PE ratio of 57.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. AbbVie’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.95 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.93%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 215.28%.

About AbbVie

AbbVie Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells pharmaceuticals worldwide. The company offers Humira, an injection for autoimmune and intestinal Behçet's diseases, and pyoderma gangrenosum; Skyrizi to treat moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, psoriatic disease, and Crohn's disease; Rinvoq to treat rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, atopic dermatitis, axial spondyloarthropathy, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn's disease; Imbruvica for the treatment of adult patients with blood cancers; Epkinly to treat lymphoma; Elahere to treat cancer; and Venclexta/Venclyxto to treat blood cancers.