NewEdge Wealth LLC Buys 9,428 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Key Points

• NewEdge Wealth LLC has increased its stock position in AbbVie Inc. by 4.6%, bringing its total holdings to over $44 million, which accounts for 0.8% of its overall portfolio.
• Raymond James Financial has raised AbbVie's price target from $227 to $236, giving it an "outperform" rating, while eight analysts rated the stock as a "hold," seventeen as a "buy," and three as a "strong buy."
• AbbVie announced a quarterly dividend of $1.64 per share, representing an annual yield of 3.4%, with a relatively high payout ratio of 279.15%.

NewEdge Wealth LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 4.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 212,552 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 9,428 shares during the period. AbbVie makes up 0.8% of NewEdge Wealth LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. NewEdge Wealth LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $44,534,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Crestline Management LP boosted its stake in AbbVie by 438.4% during the fourth quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 35,311 shares of the company's stock worth $6,275,000 after buying an additional 28,753 shares in the last quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in AbbVie by 25.3% during the first quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,988 shares of the company's stock worth $417,000 after buying an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,367,162 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,664,489,000 after acquiring an additional 108,993 shares during the period. AXA S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 971,893 shares of the company's stock valued at $172,705,000 after acquiring an additional 125,568 shares during the period. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 6.3% during the first quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 46,853 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,817,000 after acquiring an additional 2,792 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of AbbVie stock traded up $1.83 during trading on Monday, hitting $197.05. 4,216,467 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,844,660. The firm has a market capitalization of $348.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 93.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.50. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $163.81 and a 1-year high of $218.66. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $188.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $190.42. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.24 by ($0.27). AbbVie had a return on equity of 518.10% and a net margin of 6.45%. The company had revenue of $15.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.65 earnings per share. AbbVie's quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio is 312.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ABBV shares. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $227.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. BNP Paribas raised AbbVie to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $194.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently 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.