World Investment Advisors LLC Sells 3,731 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

World Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 7.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,390 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,731 shares during the quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $9,556,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in AbbVie by 23.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 528,802 shares of the company's stock valued at $104,428,000 after buying an additional 101,455 shares during the last quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 60,787 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,004,000 after purchasing an additional 6,814 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 88,716 shares of the company's stock valued at $17,520,000 after purchasing an additional 2,527 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at $445,000. Finally, Aldebaran Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at $466,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV traded down $1.21 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $173.16. 4,996,870 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,533,200. 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 company's 50-day simple moving average is $185.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $182.75. The company has a market capitalization of $306.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $151.29 and a 52-week high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 analysts' expectations of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 dividend yield of 3.79%. AbbVie's payout ratio is 227.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Argus raised AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Leerink Partners raised AbbVie from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $206.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group raised their target price on AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on AbbVie from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $203.65.

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.