Baron Wealth Management LLC Increases Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Baron Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,619 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 331 shares during the quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $517,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GGM Financials LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.7% during 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 shares of AbbVie by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 18,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,575,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 6,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,187,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Citizens Financial Corp raised its stake in AbbVie by 0.9% during 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. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of ABBV opened at $166.26 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. The stock has a market cap of $293.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.73, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a 50-day moving average of $191.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $181.08. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $137.14 and a 12-month high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.95 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company 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 $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 215.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on ABBV. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Friday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.89.

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.