Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 149,662 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 6.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,615,465 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 149,662 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.15% of AbbVie worth $547,992,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. EnRich Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 196.4% during the 4th quarter. EnRich Financial Partners LLC now owns 166 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new position in AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of ABBV stock traded down $1.25 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $189.50. 3,706,217 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,248,905. The stock has a market capitalization of $334.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.48. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $163.63 and a fifty-two week high of $218.66. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $187.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $188.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14.

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

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

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 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 payout ratio is presently 279.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on AbbVie from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Eight equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.29.

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.