Exeter Financial LLC Reduces Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Exeter Financial LLC reduced its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,788 shares of the company’s stock after selling 198 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises 1.7% of Exeter Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Exeter Financial LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $3,658,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth $3,229,888,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth $499,955,000. Capital International Investors increased its position in AbbVie by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 44,988,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,971,796,000 after buying an additional 2,542,463 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in AbbVie by 39.6% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,422,613 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,305,252,000 after buying an additional 2,390,239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,451,975 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,774,569,000 after purchasing an additional 1,702,415 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $168.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.93, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market cap of $298.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.15, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.60. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.96 and a 1 year high of $182.89. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $164.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $167.29.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $12.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.93 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 179.47% and a net margin of 11.02%. AbbVie’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be issued a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 183.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ABBV shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on AbbVie from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays reduced their price objective on AbbVie from $195.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on AbbVie from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Two investment 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.64.

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.