Banco Santander S.A. Purchases 12,582 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Key Points

• Banco Santander S.A. increased its stake in AbbVie Inc. by 17.1% during Q1, now owning 86,026 shares valued at $18 million.
• AbbVie reported earnings per share of $2.97 for the last quarter, missing estimates of $3.24, but revenue rose to $15.42 billion, exceeding expectations.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 3.4%, with a payout ratio of 279.15%.

Banco Santander S.A. grew its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 17.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 86,026 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 12,582 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.'s holdings in AbbVie were worth $18,024,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ABBV. EnRich Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in AbbVie by 196.4% during the 4th quarter. EnRich Financial Partners LLC now owns 166 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Abound Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 197.6% during the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 179,440 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 119,141 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on AbbVie from $227.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America boosted their target price on AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Evercore ISI raised their target price on AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $210.00 price target for the company. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $212.81.

AbbVie Trading Up 3.3%

ABBV stock traded up $6.15 during trading on Friday, hitting $195.17. The company had a trading volume of 8,081,230 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,440,562. The business has a 50-day moving average of $188.33 and a 200-day moving average of $190.30. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $163.81 and a one year high of $218.66. The stock has a market cap of $344.75 billion, a PE ratio of 92.94, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14.

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

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued 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 3.4%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.