Bard Financial Services Inc. Sells 5,500 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Bard Financial Services Inc. decreased its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 7.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 69,255 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,500 shares during the period. AbbVie makes up about 1.6% of Bard Financial Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Bard Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $13,676,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $175.00 on Wednesday. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $150.16 and a one year high of $207.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market cap of $309.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $186.35 and its 200 day moving average is $182.67.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.95 EPS. AbbVie’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.95 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 215.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on ABBV. Guggenheim upped their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Daiwa America cut AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group upped their price objective on AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $191.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.19.

AbbVie 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.