AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Sold by Westchester Capital Management Inc.

Westchester Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 105,590 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,105 shares during the quarter. AbbVie comprises about 5.1% of Westchester Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Westchester Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $20,852,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 4,140.0% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Burkett Financial Services LLC grew 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 acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ABBV. Argus raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $214.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on AbbVie in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price target for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.72.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of ABBV opened at $199.57 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $352.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.30, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.63. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $194.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $180.61. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.85 and a 52-week high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 226.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 227.78%.

About AbbVie

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.