AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Stake Lowered by LGT Financial Advisors LLC

LGT Financial Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 27.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,765 shares of the company’s stock after selling 663 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for approximately 0.9% of LGT Financial Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. LGT Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $348,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 1st quarter valued at about $646,000. Quent Capital LLC grew its holdings in AbbVie by 3.3% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 8,740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,592,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the first quarter valued at approximately $222,000. Advisory Alpha LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 11.3% in the first quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 4,085 shares of the company’s stock worth $744,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MGB Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in AbbVie by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. MGB Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,426,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 target price for the company. Barclays lifted their price target on AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Citigroup increased their price objective on AbbVie from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, William Blair upgraded shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.72.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $201.20 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $194.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $180.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.81. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.85 and a 52-week high of $207.32. The stock has a market cap of $355.39 billion, a PE ratio of 69.86, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.63.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 226.99%. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. 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 3.26%. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 215.28%.

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.