MetLife Investment Management LLC Sells 12,370 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

by · The Markets Daily

MetLife Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV – Free Report) by 2.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 494,261 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,370 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for approximately 0.6% of MetLife Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $97,607,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie during the second quarter worth $27,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

AbbVie stock opened at $181.64 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. The firm has a market cap of $320.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.63. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $137.65 and a 1-year high of $207.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $188.85 and a 200-day moving average of $181.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.95 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 215.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on ABBV. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $196.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Leerink Partners raised shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.50.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on ABBV

About AbbVie

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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