Verity & Verity LLC Purchases 1,131 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Verity & Verity LLC increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 163,308 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,131 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for approximately 3.2% of Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $32,250,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ABBV. GGM Financials LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. GGM Financials LLC now owns 6,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,362,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 18,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,575,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% in the third quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 6,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% in the second quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,187,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, First Citizens Financial Corp raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% in the third quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp now owns 5,777 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,141,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABBV has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Truist Financial lifted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on AbbVie in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 target price for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.89.

AbbVie Price Performance

AbbVie stock opened at $166.26 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $191.44 and a 200-day moving average of $181.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $293.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 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. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $137.14 and a 52 week high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 215.28%.

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.