Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Acquires 373,802 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 4.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,330,779 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 373,802 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 0.53% of AbbVie worth $1,842,642,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in AbbVie during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 4,140.0% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the period. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. increased its stake in AbbVie by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Trading Up 0.7 %

ABBV opened at $167.74 on Thursday. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $137.65 and a twelve month high of $207.32. The company has a fifty day moving average of $190.25 and a 200-day moving average of $181.01. The stock has a market cap of $296.42 billion, a PE ratio of 58.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.63. 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 (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The business’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.95 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.95 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.91%. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 215.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ABBV. UBS Group increased their target price on AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $228.00 to $208.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.37.

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.