Novare Capital Management LLC Purchases 5,341 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Novare Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 10.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 58,192 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,341 shares during the period. Novare Capital Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $10,341,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ascent Group LLC lifted its position in AbbVie by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 25,778 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,421,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102 shares during the period. Annandale Capital LLC boosted its stake in AbbVie by 686.6% in the second quarter. Annandale Capital LLC now owns 29,106 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,992,000 after acquiring an additional 25,406 shares during the last quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC grew its holdings in AbbVie by 29.5% during the 2nd quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 1,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 356 shares during the period. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 89.5% during the 2nd quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,256 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,588,000 after acquiring an additional 4,371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silver Lake Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Silver Lake Advisory LLC now owns 57,427 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,850,000 after purchasing an additional 1,456 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of ABBV opened at $170.05 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $153.58 and a twelve month high of $207.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $300.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50 day moving average of $175.84 and a 200-day moving average of $184.77.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors 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 a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is 227.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Daiwa America cut AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on AbbVie in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price target for the company. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Argus raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 target price on the stock. Five equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.