Ascent Wealth Partners LLC Has $11.70 Million Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,261 shares of the company’s stock after selling 594 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for 1.6% of Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $11,703,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its position in AbbVie by 4,140.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Burkett Financial Services LLC raised its position in AbbVie by 61.2% during the third quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.3 %

ABBV stock traded down $0.60 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $200.60. The stock had a trading volume of 321,829 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,305,117. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $194.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $180.25. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.85 and a 1-year high of $207.32. The firm has a market cap of $354.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 226.99%. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.27%. 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. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 215.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABBV has been the topic of a number of research reports. Argus raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.72.

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.