Essex Financial Services Inc. Raises Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Essex Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 38,715 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,011 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $6,880,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ABBV. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 40.3% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 38,974 shares during the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in AbbVie by 100.0% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the 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 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $191.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup boosted their target price on AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Leerink Partners raised AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.35.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $190.31 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. The company has a market cap of $336.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.29, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.58 and a fifty-two week high of $207.32. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $177.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $185.75.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a return on equity of 257.91% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.79 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current year.

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.