Weaver Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Weaver Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 55.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,612 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,993 shares during the quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,108,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 170,376,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,025,605,000 after buying an additional 9,978,415 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 249.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,373,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $796,357,000 after buying an additional 3,120,310 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,098,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,758,789,000 after buying an additional 3,110,601 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 156.0% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,474,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $632,619,000 after buying an additional 2,116,997 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 1st quarter worth about $367,372,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $214.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. William Blair raised shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $198.47.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total value of $12,403,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 446,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $83,299,645.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $188.78 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $194.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $178.01. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.85 and a twelve month high of $199.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $333.36 billion, a PE ratio of 56.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.63.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 203.66%. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.91 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.85 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 183.98%.

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.