Sovereign Financial Group Inc. Raises Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 18.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,212 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 503 shares during the period. Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $585,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. Lokken Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Lokken Investment Group LLC now owns 1,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its stake in AbbVie by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 11,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,776,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc increased its position in AbbVie by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 2,254 shares of the company’s stock valued at $349,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Avion Wealth increased its position in AbbVie by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, White Pine Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. White Pine Capital LLC now owns 5,498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $852,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays dropped 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. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on AbbVie from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, HSBC raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.64.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of ABBV opened at $168.99 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $164.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $167.29. The company has a market cap of $298.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.60. 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 twelve month low of $130.96 and a twelve month high of $182.89.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.46 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

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

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.