UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Buys 582,953 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 10,175,926 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 582,953 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises about 0.5% of UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,009,542,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 66.4% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 1,047,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $206,895,000 after purchasing an additional 418,010 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in AbbVie by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 597,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,042,000 after buying an additional 5,996 shares in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,203,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. BBR Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. BBR Partners LLC now owns 61,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,138,000 after acquiring an additional 6,578 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV opened at $183.09 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $188.65 and a 200 day moving average of $181.59. The stock has a market cap of $323.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.57, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $137.65 and a 52-week high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.95 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.95 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 215.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. William Blair raised shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Argus upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. 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 note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on AbbVie in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.