Simplify Asset Management Inc. Takes Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Simplify Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 47,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,331,000. AbbVie accounts for 0.4% of Simplify Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on ABBV shares. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of AbbVie from $228.00 to $208.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.89.

AbbVie Trading Down 1.8 %

AbbVie stock traded down $3.09 during trading on Friday, reaching $166.54. The company had a trading volume of 2,791,807 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,431,623. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $294.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.99, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.63. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $137.05 and a 12-month high of $207.32. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $192.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $180.76.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.95 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is 215.28%.

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.