Banque Pictet & Cie SA Boosts Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Banque Pictet & Cie SA grew its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 139.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 178,344 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 103,887 shares during the quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $37,367,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crestline Management LP raised its position in AbbVie by 438.4% in the 4th quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 35,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,275,000 after purchasing an additional 28,753 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in AbbVie by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,367,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,664,489,000 after purchasing an additional 108,993 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its position in AbbVie by 35.8% in the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. raised its position in AbbVie by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 971,893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,705,000 after purchasing an additional 125,568 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC raised its position in AbbVie by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 46,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,817,000 after purchasing an additional 2,792 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $190.64 on Wednesday. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $163.81 and a 52 week high of $218.66. The stock has a market cap of $336.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.12, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.48. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $187.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $188.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 7.31% and a return on equity of 412.03%. The company had revenue of $13.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.91 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 279.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on ABBV shares. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $210.00 price target for the company. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AbbVie to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has an average 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.