Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Trims Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P decreased its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 63.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 78,590 shares of the company’s stock after selling 136,317 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $15,520,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its position in AbbVie by 19.3% in the third quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 23,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,541,000 after buying an additional 3,729 shares in the last quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC now owns 42,638 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,420,000 after acquiring an additional 1,274 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in AbbVie by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 224,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,398,000 after acquiring an additional 21,329 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 18.8% during the third quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 24,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,823,000 after purchasing an additional 3,865 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Investment Counsel LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.7% in the third quarter. Capital Investment Counsel LLC now owns 52,471 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,362,000 after purchasing an additional 869 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $181.16 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $320.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $188.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $181.58. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $137.65 and a one year high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion during 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%. AbbVie’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 227.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. William Blair upgraded AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on AbbVie from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Argus raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Three research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.