Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Purchases 10,937 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. increased its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 6.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 189,075 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,937 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up approximately 1.0% of Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $37,339,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GGM Financials LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. GGM Financials LLC now owns 6,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc raised its holdings in AbbVie by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 18,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,575,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Dillon & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in AbbVie by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 6,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Frisch Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in AbbVie by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,187,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, First Citizens Financial Corp raised its holdings in AbbVie by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp now owns 5,777 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,141,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of AbbVie stock traded up $1.94 on Thursday, hitting $183.08. 5,271,481 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,555,972. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $188.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $181.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.54 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. The company has a market cap of $323.53 billion, a PE ratio of 63.57, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.63.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.95 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on ABBV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Citigroup lowered their price target on AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.50.

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.