AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Acquired by Cetera Investment Advisers

Key Points

• Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in AbbVie by 4.6% in Q1, acquiring an additional 28,846 shares, bringing its total holdings to 652,525 shares valued at $136.7 million.
• A variety of analysts have provided upgrades for AbbVie, with Morgan Stanley increasing its price target from $241 to $250 and granting an "overweight" rating.
• AbbVie recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share, contributing to an annualized dividend yield of 3.45%, with a payout ratio of 279.15%.

Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 4.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 652,525 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 28,846 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in AbbVie were worth $136,717,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth $4,459,385,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 25,841.6% in 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 during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 32.8% in 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 during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 24.3% in 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 during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 11.8% in 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 during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABBV has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $194.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of AbbVie to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.29.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE ABBV traded down $0.53 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $189.75. 924,378 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,837,420. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $187.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $189.85. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $163.81 and a one year high of $218.66. The company has a market cap of $335.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.48.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.06. The company 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%. AbbVie's revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.31 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders 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 yield of 3.46%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 279.15%.

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.