AbbVie Inc. $ABBV is Advisors Capital Management LLC’s 4th Largest Position

Advisors Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 579,779 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,221 shares during the quarter. AbbVie comprises about 1.9% of Advisors Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $121,475,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ABBV. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 25,841.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,234,737 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,144,382,000 after purchasing an additional 10,195,284 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 1st quarter worth $1,819,154,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 31.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 14,646,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,068,820,000 after purchasing an additional 3,519,187 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,058,706 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,142,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,882,780 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 147.6% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,752,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $576,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,641,091 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Price Performance

AbbVie stock opened at $211.84 on Thursday. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.81 and a 12-month high of $218.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $374.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 100.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $199.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $194.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.24 by ($0.27). The firm had revenue of $15.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 699.66% and a net margin of 6.45%.AbbVie’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.65 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 312.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 42,370 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.42, for a total value of $8,407,055.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 177,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,178,278.64. The trade was a 19.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total value of $2,639,190.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 58,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,562,611.97. The trade was a 18.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ABBV. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Daiwa America raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.95.

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.