AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Acquired by Advisory Alpha LLC

Advisory Alpha LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,347 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $773,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 11,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,036,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Genesis Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth approximately $398,000. Simon Quick Advisors LLC boosted its position in AbbVie by 76.4% in the 4th quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 19,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,379,000 after buying an additional 8,238 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 10,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,933,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capstone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth $230,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of ABBV opened at $169.19 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.65. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.58 and a fifty-two week high of $207.32. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $175.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.84. The company has a market capitalization of $298.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 227.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on AbbVie in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 target price for the company. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $191.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.