Financial Counselors Inc. Grows Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Financial Counselors Inc. grew its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 0.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 471,579 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 1,391 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for about 1.5% of Financial Counselors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Financial Counselors Inc.'s holdings in AbbVie were worth $98,805,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in AbbVie by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,072,078 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,754,908,000 after buying an additional 1,424,237 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 33,983,707 shares of the company's stock worth $6,038,898,000 after acquiring an additional 778,126 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth about $4,459,385,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 21,824,626 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,878,236,000 after acquiring 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 Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $189.50 on Monday. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $163.81 and a one year high of $218.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $334.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.64, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $187.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $188.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.76.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.06. AbbVie had a return on equity of 412.03% and a net margin of 7.31%. The firm had revenue of $13.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.31 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 279.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Erste Group Bank raised shares of AbbVie to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $210.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $194.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.29.

About AbbVie

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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