AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Purchased by Salem Investment Counselors Inc.

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 126,962 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 749 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for 0.8% of Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $23,120,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. American National Bank lifted its position in AbbVie by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. American National Bank now owns 59,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,204,000 after buying an additional 2,695 shares in the last quarter. AXS Investments LLC raised its position in AbbVie by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. AXS Investments LLC now owns 9,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,477,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares during the period. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in AbbVie by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 17,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,641,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC raised its position in AbbVie by 33.4% in the fourth quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 30,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,791,000 after purchasing an additional 7,737 shares during the period. Finally, Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in AbbVie by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $413,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE:ABBV opened at $170.39 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $163.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $166.93. The stock has a market cap of $300.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.60. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.96 and a 1 year high of $182.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.93, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.94.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $12.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.93 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 179.47% and a net margin of 11.02%. The business’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.46 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be given a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 183.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Guggenheim lifted their target price on AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays cut their price objective on AbbVie from $195.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. HSBC upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on AbbVie from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.64.

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.