Morling Financial Advisors LLC Takes Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Morling Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,370 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $287,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 22,912 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,072,000 after purchasing an additional 3,401 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 72.7% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,279 shares of the company's stock worth $1,294,000 after purchasing an additional 3,064 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 35.8% in the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 1,047 shares of the company's stock valued at $186,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 2,082 shares of the company's stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Finally, Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,214 shares of the company's stock worth $1,104,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV traded down $0.66 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $189.63. 1,092,258 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,838,594. 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 quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.76. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $187.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $189.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $334.95 billion, a PE ratio of 80.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.48.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 the consensus estimate of $12.91 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 7.31% and a return on equity of 412.03%. AbbVie's revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.31 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. AbbVie's payout ratio is presently 279.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.