TCW Group Inc. Decreases Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Key Points

• TCW Group Inc. has reduced its stake in AbbVie Inc. by 1.3%, owning 418,730 shares after selling 5,553 shares, which were worth approximately $87.73 million at the end of the reporting period.
• AbbVie has been upgraded by several analysts, with Bank of America increasing its price target to $204.00 while maintaining a "hold" rating, and Morgan Stanley raising its price objective from $241.00 to $250.00 with an "overweight" rating.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.64, with an annualized dividend yield of 3.45% and a payout ratio of 279.15%.

TCW Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 1.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 418,730 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,553 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc.'s holdings in AbbVie were worth $87,732,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. EnRich Financial Partners LLC raised its position in AbbVie by 196.4% in the 4th quarter. EnRich Financial Partners LLC now owns 166 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH raised its position in AbbVie by 197.6% in the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 179,440 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 119,141 shares during the period. Finally, Cypress Capital Management LLC WY purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ABBV. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective 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. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $194.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.29.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.2%

ABBV traded down $0.35 during trading on Thursday, hitting $188.97. The stock had a trading volume of 5,869,762 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,836,205. The company has a market capitalization of $333.79 billion, a PE ratio of 80.68, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.48. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $163.81 and a twelve 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $187.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $189.95.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.24 by ($0.27). AbbVie had a net margin of 7.31% and a return on equity of 412.03%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.65 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 279.15%.

AbbVie 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.