Archer Investment Corp Boosts Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Archer Investment Corp boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 9.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,786 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 733 shares during the period. Archer Investment Corp’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,841,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Norges Bank purchased a new position in AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at $4,459,385,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 25,841.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,234,737 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,144,382,000 after buying an additional 10,195,284 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 32.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,097,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,215,903,000 after buying an additional 4,466,971 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 17,246,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,064,773,000 after buying an additional 3,373,156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 21,824,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,878,236,000 after buying an additional 2,299,645 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.4%

ABBV traded down $0.74 on Friday, reaching $190.66. 688,889 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,298,852. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $163.81 and a one year high of $218.66. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $187.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $189.30. The company has a market cap of $336.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 279.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on ABBV shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $194.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Eight equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, 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.