AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Stock Holdings Increased by Waddell & Associates LLC

Waddell & Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 3.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,022 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Waddell & Associates LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $399,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the first quarter worth $646,000. Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 8,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,592,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the first quarter valued at about $201,000. Bellevue Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 310.2% in the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 27,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,025,000 after buying an additional 20,866 shares during the period. Finally, Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 9.9% in the first quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $385,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABBV has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Argus upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America raised their target price on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on AbbVie from $228.00 to $208.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on AbbVie in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.50.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $176.94 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $189.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $181.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.65. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $137.65 and a 52 week high of $207.32. The firm has a market cap of $312.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.63.

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

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.71%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 215.28%.

AbbVie 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.