DGS Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

DGS Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 12.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,361 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 371 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $664,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the third quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its position in AbbVie by 100.0% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV traded up $0.72 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $173.91. The company had a trading volume of 514,548 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,512,188. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $151.29 and a 12 month high of $207.32. The stock has a market cap of $307.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.13, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $185.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $182.68.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.95 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.96 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 215.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on ABBV shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Leerink Partners raised shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. William Blair upgraded AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.65.

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.