Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 2,562,763 Shares of AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Franklin Resources Inc. decreased its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 14.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,107,871 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,562,763 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for 0.7% of Franklin Resources Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.86% of AbbVie worth $2,804,324,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MAI Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 3.8% in the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 539,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,130,000 after buying an additional 19,996 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in AbbVie by 954.3% in the 2nd quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,343,000 after acquiring an additional 16,300 shares during the last quarter. Ames National Corp purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the second quarter valued at about $272,000. YANKCOM Partnership grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 2.4% in the second quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 9,766 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,813,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 503,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,375,000 after buying an additional 34,096 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $229.75 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $226.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $204.95. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.39 and a 52-week high of $244.81. The company has a market cap of $406.06 billion, a PE ratio of 109.41, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 31st. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.58 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 699.66%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.00 earnings per share. AbbVie has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 3.320-3.360 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 16th will be given a dividend of $1.73 per share. This represents a $6.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 16th. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.64. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 524.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ABBV shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AbbVie in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Bank of America lifted their price target on AbbVie from $220.00 to $251.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $170.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $240.14.

AbbVie 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.