Ascent Wealth Partners LLC Has $11.70 Million Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC trimmed its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 59,261 shares of the company’s stock after selling 594 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for about 1.6% of Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $11,703,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in AbbVie by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 170,376,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,025,605,000 after purchasing an additional 9,978,415 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 1,745.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,728,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $933,698,000 after purchasing an additional 4,471,806 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in AbbVie by 249.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,373,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $796,357,000 after purchasing an additional 3,120,310 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in AbbVie by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,098,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,758,789,000 after purchasing an additional 3,110,601 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in AbbVie by 156.0% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,474,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $632,619,000 after purchasing an additional 2,116,997 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE ABBV traded down $0.60 on Thursday, hitting $200.60. The stock had a trading volume of 321,829 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,305,117. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.85 and a 52-week high of $207.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $354.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $194.41 and a 200-day moving average of $180.25.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 226.99%. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.95 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.97 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 215.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $218.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.72.

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.