Saturna Capital Corp Purchases 560,808 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Saturna Capital Corp increased its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 486.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 676,176 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 560,808 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for 1.7% of Saturna Capital Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Saturna Capital Corp’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $133,531,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc increased its stake in AbbVie by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 175,654 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,688,000 after buying an additional 4,441 shares in the last quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1.3% in the third quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,782,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. Rossmore Private Capital grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 2.4% during the third quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 42,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,478,000 after purchasing an additional 999 shares in the last quarter. Souders Financial Advisors raised its stake in AbbVie by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Souders Financial Advisors now owns 22,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,412,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the period. Finally, Dillon & Associates Inc. raised its stake in AbbVie by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 6,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:ABBV opened at $171.90 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $303.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.63. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $136.30 and a twelve month high of $207.32. 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 has a fifty day simple moving average of $194.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $180.83.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.82%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 215.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ABBV shares. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price objective for the company. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. William Blair upgraded AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Barclays increased their price target on AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.06.

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.