World Equity Group Inc. Lowers Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

World Equity Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 7,700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 396 shares during the period. World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,521,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter worth about $39,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 4,140.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the period. Finally, Burkett Financial Services LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 61.2% during the 3rd quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 216 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE ABBV traded down $1.30 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $202.25. The stock had a trading volume of 494,476 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,306,700. The stock has a market cap of $357.24 billion, a PE ratio of 70.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.71. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.85 and a 1 year high of $207.32. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $194.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $179.60.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 226.99% and a net margin of 9.22%. AbbVie’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.95 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 215.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABBV has been the subject of several recent research reports. Argus upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. William Blair upgraded shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $214.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.00.

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.