Banco Santander S.A. Sells 37,732 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Banco Santander S.A. cut its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 36.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 64,537 shares of the company’s stock after selling 37,732 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $12,745,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $999,000. Saturna Capital Corp increased its stake in AbbVie by 486.1% in the third quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 676,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,531,000 after purchasing an additional 560,808 shares in the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 9.0% during the second quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 32,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,506,000 after purchasing an additional 2,657 shares during the period. PGGM Investments boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 308.1% during the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 32,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,624,000 after purchasing an additional 24,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 57.5% in the 3rd quarter. Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,282,000 after buying an additional 6,065 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $167.45 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $295.91 billion, a PE ratio of 58.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.65 and a 12 month high of $207.32. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $190.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $181.01.

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

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.92%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 215.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $228.00 to $208.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.37.

AbbVie Company Profile

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.