Meritage Portfolio Management Cuts Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Meritage Portfolio Management lowered its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 33,535 shares of the company’s stock after selling 598 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $6,622,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Hawaiian Bank grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 9.0% in the second quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 32,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,506,000 after acquiring an additional 2,657 shares in the last quarter. PGGM Investments increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 308.1% during the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 32,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,624,000 after purchasing an additional 24,756 shares during the last quarter. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 2nd quarter worth $1,349,000. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 29.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 27,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,333,000 after buying an additional 6,161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ullmann Wealth Partners Group LLC raised its position in AbbVie by 109.1% in the third quarter. Ullmann Wealth Partners Group LLC now owns 6,326 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,249,000 after acquiring an additional 3,301 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE:ABBV traded down $1.01 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $199.50. The company had a trading volume of 4,596,949 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,356,025. The company has a market capitalization of $352.54 billion, a PE ratio of 69.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.85 and a 52-week high of $207.32. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $194.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $180.61.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The company’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.95 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.96 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is 215.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ABBV shares. William Blair upgraded shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $214.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.82.

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.