Empirical Finance LLC Has $12.03 Million Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,938 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,303 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up about 0.7% of Empirical Finance LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $12,034,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie by 4,140.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on ABBV shares. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Argus raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Friday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 target price for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.89.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV opened at $169.51 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.05 and a 12 month high of $207.32. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $193.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $180.84. The stock has a market cap of $299.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.63.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its 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. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The company’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.95 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.95 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors 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 3.87%. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 215.28%.

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.