Braun Stacey Associates Inc. Acquires New Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Braun Stacey Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 78,670 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,483,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Norges Bank bought a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,459,385,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 25,841.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,234,737 shares of the company's stock worth $2,144,382,000 after buying an additional 10,195,284 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 32.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,097,375 shares of the company's stock worth $3,215,903,000 after buying an additional 4,466,971 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 24.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 17,246,900 shares of the company's stock worth $3,064,773,000 after buying an additional 3,373,156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 21,824,626 shares of the company's stock worth $3,878,236,000 after buying an additional 2,299,645 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:ABBV traded down $1.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $189.50. The stock had a trading volume of 3,706,217 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,249,990. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.76. The company has a market cap of $334.73 billion, a PE ratio of 80.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.48. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.81 and a 12-month high of $218.66. The company's 50 day moving average is $187.37 and its 200-day moving average is $188.68.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last issued 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 the consensus estimate of $12.91 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 7.31% and a return on equity of 412.03%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.31 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current 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 given 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 279.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on ABBV. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $194.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. 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, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of AbbVie to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.29.

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.