Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Raises Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 189,075 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 10,937 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up approximately 1.0% of Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $37,339,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in AbbVie by 0.9% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 15,277,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,620,382,000 after purchasing an additional 134,239 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in AbbVie by 3.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,630,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,691,732,000 after purchasing an additional 511,470 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in AbbVie by 6.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 10,175,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,009,542,000 after purchasing an additional 582,953 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in AbbVie by 4.2% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,330,779 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,842,642,000 after purchasing an additional 373,802 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in AbbVie by 7.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,841,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,516,358,000 after purchasing an additional 623,569 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock traded up $1.94 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $183.08. The stock had a trading volume of 5,271,481 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,555,972. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $188.65 and its 200 day moving average is $181.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $323.53 billion, a PE ratio of 63.57, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.63. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $137.65 and a twelve month high of $207.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.95 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 215.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price objective for the company. William Blair upgraded shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.50.

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.