Strategy Asset Managers LLC Acquires New Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Strategy Asset Managers LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 1,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $324,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the first quarter valued at approximately $646,000. Quent Capital LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 3.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the 1st quarter valued at $576,000. Capital World Investors lifted its position in AbbVie by 249.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,373,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $796,357,000 after buying an additional 3,120,310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 11,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,049,000 after buying an additional 959 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of ABBV opened at $167.74 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.65 and a 12 month high of $207.32. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $190.25 and its 200-day moving average is $181.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $296.42 billion, a PE ratio of 58.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.63.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.95 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.91%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 215.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price objective for the company. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. William Blair upgraded shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.37.

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.