AbbVie Inc. $ABBV Shares Bought by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 52.8% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 226,836 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 78,374 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $49,335,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ABBV. Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Westend Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Imprint Wealth LLC grew its holdings in AbbVie by 56.2% in the 4th quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 125 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 115.9% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 136 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on ABBV shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $260.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 5th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $234.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $260.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $268.10.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE ABBV opened at $256.98 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $235.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $223.11. The company has a market capitalization of $454.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 126.59, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.30. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $187.62 and a 1-year high of $262.10.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.72 billion. AbbVie had a negative return on equity of 576.45% and a net margin of 5.79%.AbbVie’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.46 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 14.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $1.73 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 340.89%.

About AbbVie

AbbVie is a global, research-driven biopharmaceutical company that was created as a spin-off from Abbott Laboratories in 2013 and is headquartered in North Chicago, Illinois. The company focuses on discovering, developing and commercializing therapies for complex and often chronic medical conditions. Its operations span research and development, manufacturing, regulatory affairs and commercialization, with an emphasis on bringing specialty medicines to market across multiple therapeutic areas.

AbbVie’s product portfolio and pipeline cover several major therapeutic categories, including immunology, oncology, neuroscience, virology and women’s health.