Covenant Asset Management LLC Sells 970 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Covenant Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,770 shares of the company’s stock after selling 970 shares during the period. AbbVie makes up about 0.8% of Covenant Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Covenant Asset Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $4,892,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in AbbVie during the first quarter worth about $646,000. Quent Capital LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 3.3% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 8,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,592,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its stake in AbbVie by 9.3% during the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 11,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,049,000 after purchasing an additional 959 shares during the period. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 11.3% during the first quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,109 shares of the company’s stock worth $384,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. bought a new position in AbbVie during the first quarter worth about $201,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Up 2.6 %

AbbVie stock opened at $172.18 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $137.65 and a fifty-two week high of $207.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $304.27 billion, a PE ratio of 59.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.63. The company’s 50-day moving average is $189.81 and its 200-day moving average is $180.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. AbbVie’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.95 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 215.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Argus upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Piper Sandler raised their price target 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. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Leerink Partners upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie currently 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.