Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Acquires 38,854 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,119,235 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,854 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up 0.6% of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $813,467,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. GGM Financials LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 stake in AbbVie by 0.3% during the third quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 18,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,575,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in AbbVie by 0.8% during the second quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,187,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunflower Bank N.A. boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 13,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,710,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $174.44 on Tuesday. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $136.30 and a 52 week high of $207.32. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $194.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $180.83. The firm has a market cap of $308.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.65.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted 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 business had revenue of $14.46 billion for 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%. AbbVie’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.95 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 215.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Cowen increased their price target on AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, August 5th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $214.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.82.

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.