AbbVie Inc. $ABBV Stock: Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stake

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 160,933 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,938 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $42,097,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Corient Private Wealth LP bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the second quarter valued at approximately $559,736,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie in the second quarter valued at $2,905,952,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in AbbVie in the second quarter worth $1,560,354,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in AbbVie in the second quarter worth $817,473,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in AbbVie in the second quarter worth $655,268,000. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on ABBV. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $298.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $290.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 2nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $275.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $280.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $297.46.

AbbVie Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of ABBV opened at $293.88 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $519.46 billion, a PE ratio of 50.58, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.20. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.75 and a 1 year high of $302.93. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $273.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $239.80.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 30th. The company reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.09. AbbVie had a negative return on equity of 450.55% and a net margin of 15.67%. The business had revenue of $17.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.86 EPS. AbbVie’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 13.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 15th. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.73. This represents a $7.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 125.30%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 32,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $8,177,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 74,430 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,607,500. The trade was a 30.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

About AbbVie

AbbVie is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and markets medicines for a range of serious health conditions. Its research and product portfolio spans immunology, oncology, neuroscience and other therapeutic areas. Key products include the immunology medicines Skyrizi and Rinvoq, cancer treatments such as Imbruvica and Venclexta, and neuroscience therapies including Botox and Vraylar. Through its Allergan acquisition, AbbVie also offers aesthetics products such as Botox Cosmetic and Juvéderm.