AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Purchased by Cozad Asset Management Inc.

Cozad Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 18,297 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $3,833,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Crestline Management LP raised its stake in AbbVie by 438.4% in the 4th quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 35,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,275,000 after acquiring an additional 28,753 shares during the last quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in AbbVie by 25.3% in the 1st quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $417,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in AbbVie by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,367,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,664,489,000 after acquiring an additional 108,993 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its stake in AbbVie by 35.8% in the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AXA S.A. raised its stake in AbbVie by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 971,893 shares of the company’s stock worth $172,705,000 after acquiring an additional 125,568 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE:ABBV opened at $188.47 on Tuesday. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $163.81 and a 52 week high of $218.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $332.91 billion, a PE ratio of 80.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $187.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $189.94.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.06. AbbVie had a return on equity of 412.03% and a net margin of 7.31%. The company had revenue of $13.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.31 EPS. AbbVie’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 279.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas upgraded AbbVie to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.29.

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.