AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Sold by Auxier Asset Management

Auxier Asset Management lowered its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 33,439 shares of the company’s stock after selling 250 shares during the quarter. Auxier Asset Management’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $6,604,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 4,140.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Up 1.1 %

ABBV stock opened at $183.08 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $323.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $188.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $181.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.54. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.65 and a 12 month high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its 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 net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.95 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.95 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 215.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ABBV. Argus raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on AbbVie in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 target price for the company. UBS Group upped their price target on AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.