Carret Asset Management LLC Reduces Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Carret Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 50,759 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,011 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises approximately 1.1% of Carret Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $10,024,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 6.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 170,376,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,025,605,000 after buying an additional 9,978,415 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 6.9% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,098,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,758,789,000 after purchasing an additional 3,110,601 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 3.3% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 31,295,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,698,847,000 after purchasing an additional 992,496 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 15,277,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,620,382,000 after purchasing an additional 134,239 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 12.8% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,898,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,984,490,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240,434 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total transaction of $12,403,580.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at $83,299,645.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $187.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $331.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.74, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.63. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $194.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $178.34. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.85 and a 12 month high of $199.95.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 203.66%. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.91 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.85 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 183.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ABBV shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $170.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, William Blair raised shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.39.

About AbbVie

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.