Franklin Resources Inc. Cuts Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 13.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,873,744 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,080,791 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises approximately 0.8% of Franklin Resources Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.79% of AbbVie worth $2,726,632,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its holdings in AbbVie by 5.4% during the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 209,463 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,364,000 after purchasing an additional 10,697 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie by 0.7% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 113,375 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,389,000 after acquiring an additional 780 shares during the period. Destination Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 68.1% in the third quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 3,369 shares of the company's stock valued at $665,000 after acquiring an additional 1,365 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 157.0% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 82,223 shares of the company's stock worth $16,237,000 after acquiring an additional 50,231 shares during the period. Finally, Arvest Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the third quarter worth about $18,015,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on ABBV shares. Leerink Partners upgraded AbbVie from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $206.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Argus upgraded AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $203.65.

AbbVie Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of ABBV stock traded up $0.18 on Friday, reaching $173.37. 4,644,938 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,529,717. The stock has a market capitalization of $306.37 billion, a PE ratio of 60.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $151.29 and a 52 week high of $207.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $185.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $182.68.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.96 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors 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 positive change from AbbVie's previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.78%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio is 215.28%.

AbbVie Company Profile

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.