Welch Group LLC Purchases 3,149 Shares of AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Welch Group LLC increased its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 370,508 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,149 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up 3.3% of Welch Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $85,787,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in AbbVie in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. TD Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 82.9% during the 1st quarter. TD Capital Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Companies Inc. bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $228.74 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.72. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.39 and a 52 week high of $244.81. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $226.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $211.87. The company has a market capitalization of $404.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 173.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.36.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.09. AbbVie had a net margin of 4.00% and a return on equity of 3,216.47%. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.00 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. AbbVie has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 3.320-3.360 EPS. On average, analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 16th will be paid a $1.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 16th. This represents a $6.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.64. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 496.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ABBV shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on AbbVie from $215.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Guggenheim upped their price target on AbbVie from $227.00 to $242.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $280.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $261.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald set a $250.00 target price on shares of AbbVie and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $245.84.

AbbVie Profile

AbbVie is a global, research-driven biopharmaceutical company that was created as a spin-off from Abbott Laboratories in 2013 and is headquartered in North Chicago, Illinois. The company focuses on discovering, developing and commercializing therapies for complex and often chronic medical conditions. Its operations span research and development, manufacturing, regulatory affairs and commercialization, with an emphasis on bringing specialty medicines to market across multiple therapeutic areas.

AbbVie’s product portfolio and pipeline cover several major therapeutic categories, including immunology, oncology, neuroscience, virology and women’s health.