Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc Acquires 180 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 12,772 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,270,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 1,745.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,728,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $933,698,000 after buying an additional 4,471,806 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,067,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,614,329,000 after buying an additional 1,267,685 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 59.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,096,858 shares of the company’s stock valued at $414,088,000 after buying an additional 781,858 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 7.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,841,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,516,358,000 after buying an additional 623,569 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 6.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 10,175,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,009,542,000 after buying an additional 582,953 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV traded up $1.61 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $176.78. The stock had a trading volume of 1,847,865 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,616,134. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $178.47 and a 200-day moving average of $184.55. 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 company has a market capitalization of $312.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $153.58 and a 12-month high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. This is a boost 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 227.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ABBV. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Argus upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.50.

AbbVie 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.