ABC Arbitrage SA Invests $1.60 Million in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Key Points

• ABC Arbitrage SA has acquired a new stake in AbbVie Inc., purchasing 7,635 shares valued at approximately $1.6 million.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on AbbVie, with eight analystsseventeen have given a buy rating, setting an average target price of $212.81.
• AbbVie recently reported a miss on earnings per share estimates, posting $2.97, but revenue increased by 6.6% year-over-year to $15.42 billion.

ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,635 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,600,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Crestline Management LP raised its stake in AbbVie by 438.4% during the fourth quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 35,311 shares of the company's stock worth $6,275,000 after purchasing an additional 28,753 shares during the period. Narus Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 25.3% during the first quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,988 shares of the company's stock valued at $417,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,367,162 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,664,489,000 after purchasing an additional 108,993 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 971,893 shares of the company's stock valued at $172,705,000 after purchasing an additional 125,568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in AbbVie by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 46,853 shares of the company's stock worth $9,817,000 after acquiring an additional 2,792 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ABBV shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $227.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of AbbVie to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $212.81.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE:ABBV opened at $197.05 on Tuesday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $188.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $190.60. The firm has a market cap of $348.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 93.83, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.50. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $163.81 and a 52-week high of $218.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.24 by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 518.10% and a net margin of 6.45%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.65 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 312.38%.

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.

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