AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Bought by Fred Alger Management LLC

Fred Alger Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 17.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 102,765 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 15,332 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $20,294,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $999,000. Saturna Capital Corp boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 486.1% during the third quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 676,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,531,000 after buying an additional 560,808 shares in the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank grew its position in AbbVie by 9.0% during the second quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 32,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,506,000 after buying an additional 2,657 shares during the period. PGGM Investments increased its holdings in AbbVie by 308.1% in the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 32,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,624,000 after buying an additional 24,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 23.5% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 56,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,169,000 after acquiring an additional 10,768 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE ABBV opened at $182.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $188.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $181.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $323.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.63. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $138.01 and a fifty-two week high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.95 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.95 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 227.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABBV has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Argus upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on AbbVie from $228.00 to $208.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.50.

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.