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

MetLife Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) 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) 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.

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.