AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Position Increased by Hamlin Capital Management LLC

Hamlin Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,042,139 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,108 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises approximately 4.6% of Hamlin Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Hamlin Capital Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $185,188,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1,745.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,728,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $933,698,000 after purchasing an additional 4,471,806 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in AbbVie by 1.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,067,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,614,329,000 after buying an additional 1,267,685 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in AbbVie by 59.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,096,858 shares of the company’s stock valued at $414,088,000 after buying an additional 781,858 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 10,175,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,009,542,000 after acquiring an additional 582,953 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Saturna Capital Corp grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 486.1% in the 3rd quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 676,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,531,000 after acquiring an additional 560,808 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of ABBV opened at $172.41 on Wednesday. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $153.58 and a twelve month high of $207.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $304.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $175.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.80.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The company’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.95 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm 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 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 227.78%.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ABBV shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on AbbVie to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $191.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 target price for the company. UBS Group upped 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, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.50.

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.