Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Raises Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 2.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 219,941 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,912 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in AbbVie were worth $46,082,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in AbbVie by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 37,144,933 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,586,948,000 after buying an additional 983,888 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in AbbVie by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 33,983,707 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,038,898,000 after purchasing an additional 778,126 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,459,385,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 21,824,626 shares of the company's stock worth $3,878,236,000 after acquiring an additional 2,299,645 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 32.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,097,375 shares of the company's stock worth $3,215,903,000 after acquiring an additional 4,466,971 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.3%

ABBV traded down $0.61 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $190.22. 3,786,155 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,461,288. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $187.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $189.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $336.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.64. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $163.81 and a 52 week high of $218.66.

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

AbbVie Announces Dividend

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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.45%. AbbVie's payout ratio is currently 279.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $194.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen cut AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $210.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus 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.