Strong Tower Advisory Services Boosts Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Strong Tower Advisory Services increased its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 13.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,436 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 783 shares during the period. Strong Tower Advisory Services’ holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,163,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. IFS Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Able Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ABBV. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on AbbVie from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, HSBC raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AbbVie has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.64.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:ABBV traded down $0.71 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $172.03. 331,854 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,479,738. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.93. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $130.96 and a 52 week high of $182.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $303.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.26, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $164.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $167.11.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.05. AbbVie had a return on equity of 179.47% and a net margin of 11.02%. The firm had revenue of $12.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.46 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.27 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be issued a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 183.98%.

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.