Natixis Advisors LLC Acquires 89,518 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in AbbVie Inc. by 7.5%, owning over 1.2 million shares valued at approximately $269 million as of the latest quarter.
• Multiple investors, including Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft and Roble Belko & Company, have also raised their positions in AbbVie, indicating increased institutional interest in the stock.
• AbbVie recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share, reflecting a 3.43% dividend yield, with an annualized payout of $6.56.

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 7.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,287,368 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 89,518 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.07% of AbbVie worth $269,729,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Crestline Management LP grew its position in AbbVie by 438.4% in the 4th quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 35,311 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,275,000 after buying an additional 28,753 shares in the last quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted 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 purchasing an additional 108,993 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 125,568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 2,792 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE ABBV traded up $6.15 on Friday, reaching $195.17. The stock had a trading volume of 8,081,230 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,877,075. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $188.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $190.04. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.81 and a 1-year high of $218.66. The company has a market cap of $344.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.48.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.24 by ($0.27). The firm had revenue of $15.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 7.31% and a return on equity of 412.03%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.65 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given 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 3.4%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 279.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AbbVie to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $194.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $227.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $212.81.

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.