Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Decreases Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 40.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 46,309 shares of the company's stock after selling 31,083 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.'s holdings in AbbVie were worth $9,703,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,072,078 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,754,908,000 after purchasing an additional 1,424,237 shares during the period. 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 worth $6,586,948,000 after acquiring an additional 983,888 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 778,126 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth about $4,459,385,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 21,824,626 shares of the company's stock worth $3,878,236,000 after purchasing an additional 2,299,645 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Performance

ABBV stock opened at $187.44 on Tuesday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $187.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $188.76. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.81 and a 12-month high of $218.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $331.09 billion, a PE ratio of 79.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.48.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.06. The business 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%. AbbVie's revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.31 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 279.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABBV has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Erste Group Bank raised AbbVie to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Guggenheim upped their target price on AbbVie from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AbbVie to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.

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