Verus Capital Partners LLC Cuts Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Verus Capital Partners LLC reduced its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 64,285 shares of the company’s stock after selling 669 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises about 1.2% of Verus Capital Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $12,695,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in AbbVie during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Quest Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 4,140.0% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Burkett Financial Services LLC increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 61.2% in the third quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 216 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Down 12.6 %

NYSE:ABBV opened at $174.44 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $194.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $180.83. The company has a market capitalization of $308.26 billion, a PE ratio of 60.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.63. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $136.30 and a 1-year high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS 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 244.01%. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. AbbVie’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 215.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Argus upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial raised their target price on AbbVie from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. William Blair raised AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.41.

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.