&Partners Raises Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

&Partners lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 79.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,788 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,544 shares during the period. &Partners’ holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,693,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Personal CFO Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 6,289 shares of the company’s stock worth $938,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 14,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,146,000 after buying an additional 1,120 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 43.3% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 904,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,884,000 after buying an additional 273,282 shares during the period. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp now owns 3,247 shares of the company’s stock worth $484,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,237 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,420,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on ABBV. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. HSBC raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays cut their price target on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.64.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $170.39 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $300.89 billion, a PE ratio of 50.56, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s fifty day moving average is $163.89 and its 200 day moving average is $166.93. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $130.96 and a 52 week high of $182.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.93.

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

AbbVie Announces Dividend

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

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.