AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) is Federated Hermes Inc.'s 4th Largest Position

Key Points

• Federated Hermes Inc. has increased its stake in AbbVie Inc. by 27.9%, acquiring an additional 716,468 shares and now holding a total of 3,283,390 shares valued at approximately $687.9 million.
• Institutional investors own about 70.23% of AbbVie's stock, with multiple hedge funds, including Crestline Management LP and Dimensional Fund Advisors LP, significantly increasing their holdings in the company.
• AbbVie recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend of $6.56 and a yield of 3.48%, though its payout ratio is notably high at 279.15%.

Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 27.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,283,390 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 716,468 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for approximately 1.5% of Federated Hermes Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Federated Hermes Inc. owned about 0.19% of AbbVie worth $687,936,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 53.5% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 48,967 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,260,000 after acquiring an additional 17,058 shares during the period. Cozad Asset Management Inc. grew its position in AbbVie by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,297 shares of the company's stock worth $3,833,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 21.7% during the 1st quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,499 shares of the company's stock worth $733,000 after purchasing an additional 623 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in AbbVie by 348.0% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 50,947 shares of the company's stock worth $10,674,000 after purchasing an additional 39,576 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in AbbVie by 11.2% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 43,359 shares of the company's stock worth $9,085,000 after purchasing an additional 4,375 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Stock Up 4.0%

Shares of AbbVie stock traded up $7.48 during trading on Friday, hitting $196.50. 4,788,396 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,852,607. The stock has a market cap of $347.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.48. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $188.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $190.04. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.81 and a 12-month high of $218.66. 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 (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last announced 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). AbbVie had a net margin of 7.31% and a return on equity of 412.03%. The company had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.65 earnings per share. AbbVie's revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio is presently 279.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. 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 note on Friday. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $216.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $194.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $212.81.

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.