Apollon Wealth Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.0% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 80,009 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 779 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $16,763,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crestline Management LP raised its stake in AbbVie by 438.4% during the fourth 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 period. Narus Financial Partners LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 401 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 108,993 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 35.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, AXA S.A. raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 14.8% during 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 in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on ABBV shares. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of AbbVie to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $210.00 target price on the stock. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.29.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV stock opened at $192.32 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $187.01 and a 200-day moving average of $189.11. 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $163.81 and a 12 month high of $218.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $339.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.48.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $13.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.31 earnings per share. AbbVie’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 279.15%.

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.