Machina Capital S.A.S. Makes New Investment in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Key Points

• Machina Capital S.A.S. has acquired 3,813 shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV), valued at approximately $799,000, marking a significant investment during the first quarter.
• AbbVie's stock has seen a downgrade from a "strong-buy" to a "buy" rating by Wall Street Zen, while several analysts raised their price targets with an average price target of $211.29.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.64, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 3.45%, despite a high dividend payout ratio of 279.15%.

Machina Capital S.A.S. purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 3,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $799,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ninepoint Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the first quarter valued at about $1,044,000. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1.4% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 131,272 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,802 shares in the last quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 3.4% during the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 29,188 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,116,000 after purchasing an additional 973 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 2.8% during the first quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 250,506 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,486,000 after purchasing an additional 6,786 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abel Hall LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 13.8% during the first quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 2,964 shares of the company's stock valued at $621,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ABBV shares. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AbbVie to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $210.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.29.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE ABBV traded down $0.49 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $189.79. The stock had a trading volume of 749,620 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,836,140. The company has a market capitalization of $335.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.48. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $187.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $189.85. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $163.81 and a 52 week high of $218.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.76.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $13.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.91 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 412.03% and a net margin of 7.31%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.31 EPS. Analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. AbbVie's payout ratio is 279.15%.

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.