Cornerstone Advisors LLC Acquires 4,200 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Key Points

• Cornerstone Advisors LLC increased its position in AbbVie Inc. by 5.1%, gaining a total of 86,400 shares worth approximately $18.1 million at the end of the reporting period.
• Wall Street analysts are optimistic about AbbVie, with recent target price increases; Guggenheim raised it from $216.00 to $227.00 and Raymond James from $227.00 to $236.00, both maintaining "buy" ratings.
• AbbVie announced a quarterly dividend of $1.64, providing an annualized yield of 3.3%, but has a high dividend payout ratio of 312.38%.

Cornerstone Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 5.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 86,400 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,200 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $18,103,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crestline Management LP increased its position in AbbVie by 438.4% during the fourth quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 35,311 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,275,000 after acquiring an additional 28,753 shares during the last quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,988 shares of the company's stock valued at $417,000 after buying an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,367,162 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,664,489,000 after buying an additional 108,993 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 971,893 shares of the company's stock valued at $172,705,000 after buying an additional 125,568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 46,853 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,817,000 after buying an additional 2,792 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ABBV. Daiwa Capital Markets raised AbbVie from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $214.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. BNP Paribas raised AbbVie to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Citigroup lifted their target price on AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Daiwa America raised AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $214.43.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE ABBV traded down $0.76 during trading on Friday, hitting $198.10. 4,101,321 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,210,216. The company has a market capitalization of $349.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.50. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $189.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $191.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.81 and a 12-month high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.24 by ($0.27). The firm had revenue of $15.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 699.66%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.65 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. AbbVie's payout ratio is 312.38%.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 13,295 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.51, for a total value of $2,639,190.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 58,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,562,611.97. The trade was a 18.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

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.