Cerity Partners LLC Grows Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 22.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 834,464 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 154,337 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $164,790,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 1,745.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,728,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $933,698,000 after buying an additional 4,471,806 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie during the first quarter worth $367,372,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,898,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,984,490,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240,434 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 314.1% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,315,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,549,000 after purchasing an additional 997,441 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in AbbVie by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,841,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,516,358,000 after buying an additional 623,569 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $176.94 on Friday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $189.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $181.04. The company has a market capitalization of $312.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.63.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly 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. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.95 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.71%. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 215.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.50.

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.