Hills Bank & Trust Co Raises Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Hills Bank & Trust Co lifted its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,046 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Hills Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,194,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Focus Financial Network Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 17,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,512,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in AbbVie by 6.7% during the third quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 40,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,987,000 after purchasing an additional 2,522 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR grew its holdings in AbbVie by 9.7% during the third quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 160,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,688,000 after purchasing an additional 14,226 shares during the period. Norris Perne & French LLP MI grew its holdings in AbbVie by 2.2% during the third quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 2,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $542,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Balanced Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in AbbVie by 6.8% during the third quarter. Balanced Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,408 shares of the company’s stock valued at $673,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on ABBV shares. Bank of America boosted their price target on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on AbbVie from $218.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, August 5th. William Blair raised AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total transaction of $12,403,580.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at $83,299,645.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE:ABBV opened at $204.13 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51. The company has a market capitalization of $360.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.63. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.85 and a 12 month high of $207.32. The business’s 50-day moving average is $194.00 and its 200 day moving average is $179.09.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a return on equity of 226.99% and a net margin of 9.22%. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.95 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.9 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 given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. 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.