Quartz Partners LLC Boosts Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Quartz Partners LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,716 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the period. AbbVie makes up 0.9% of Quartz Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Quartz Partners LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,549,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its position in AbbVie by 1.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,067,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,614,329,000 after buying an additional 1,267,685 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 6.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 10,175,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,009,542,000 after purchasing an additional 582,953 shares in the last quarter. Saturna Capital Corp increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 486.1% in the third quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 676,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,531,000 after purchasing an additional 560,808 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in AbbVie by 3.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,630,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,691,732,000 after purchasing an additional 511,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in AbbVie by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,993,734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $528,993,000 after purchasing an additional 483,455 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $202.03 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $181.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $186.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $356.65 billion, a PE ratio of 84.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $153.58 and a 12 month high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.79 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 273.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ABBV shares. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Daiwa America downgraded AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Argus raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wolfe Research started coverage on AbbVie in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.