Zacks Investment Management Grows Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Zacks Investment Management boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 11.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 853,207 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 84,395 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for about 1.5% of Zacks Investment Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Zacks Investment Management's holdings in AbbVie were worth $168,491,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GGM Financials LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. GGM Financials LLC now owns 6,895 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.3% during the third quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 18,102 shares of the company's stock worth $3,575,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Dillon & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% during the third quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 6,914 shares of the company's stock worth $1,362,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Frisch Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in AbbVie by 0.8% during the second quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,920 shares of the company's stock worth $1,187,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Citizens Financial Corp lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 0.9% in the third quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp now owns 5,777 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,141,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Argus raised AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Daiwa America lowered shares of AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of AbbVie to $195.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $228.00 to $208.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, William Blair upgraded AbbVie to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $202.38.

AbbVie Stock Performance

AbbVie stock traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $176.19. The stock had a trading volume of 4,839,640 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,454,487. The firm has a market capitalization of $311.35 billion, a PE ratio of 61.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $145.20 and a 12 month high of $207.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $187.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $182.17.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a boost from AbbVie's previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.72%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio is currently 215.28%.

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.