Valmark Advisers Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Valmark Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 14.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,527 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,044 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,515,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. Groupama Asset Managment increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 40.3% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 38,974 shares in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter worth about $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 100.0% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of ABBV opened at $193.00 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $341.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.42, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.58. 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 moving average price of $178.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $186.03.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 273.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ABBV shares. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $191.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.35.

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.