AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Bought by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,487,363 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 273,078 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.14% of AbbVie worth $491,204,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the first quarter worth about $646,000. Quent Capital LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 8,740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,592,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the period. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 1st quarter valued at $222,000. Advisory Alpha LLC increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 11.3% in the first quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 4,085 shares of the company’s stock worth $744,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the period. Finally, MGB Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.7% during the first quarter. MGB Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,322 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,426,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Stock Performance

ABBV opened at $201.20 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51. The company has a market cap of $355.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.86, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.63. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.85 and a 52-week high of $207.32. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $194.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $180.25.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 226.99%. The company’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. This is an increase 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 presently 215.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on ABBV. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen raised their target price on AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on AbbVie from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Argus upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.72.

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.