Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Raises Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 196.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 68,358 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 45,336 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $13,499,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter valued at about $999,000. Saturna Capital Corp grew its stake in AbbVie by 486.1% in the third quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 676,176 shares of the company's stock valued at $133,531,000 after acquiring an additional 560,808 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 23.5% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 56,556 shares of the company's stock worth $11,169,000 after purchasing an additional 10,768 shares during the period. PGGM Investments lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 308.1% in the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 32,790 shares of the company's stock worth $5,624,000 after purchasing an additional 24,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 57.5% in the 3rd quarter. Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,620 shares of the company's stock worth $3,282,000 after purchasing an additional 6,065 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on ABBV. William Blair upgraded shares of AbbVie to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. 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 report on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup cut their price target on AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $203.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on AbbVie to $195.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $202.38.

AbbVie Stock Performance

AbbVie stock traded up $0.02 during trading on Friday, hitting $176.19. The stock had a trading volume of 4,839,640 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,454,487. The stock's 50 day moving average is $186.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.38. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $145.20 and a 1 year high of $207.32. The stock has a market cap of $311.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.95 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.72%. This is a positive change from AbbVie's previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie's payout ratio is 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.