Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Grows Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 37.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 26,884 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,268 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $4,777,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GGM Financials LLC raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.7% in the third quarter. GGM Financials LLC now owns 6,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Dillon & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% in the third quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 6,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% in the third quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 7,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,383,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Carr Financial Group Corp raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.1% in the third quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 5,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,041,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthstream Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 3.0% in the third quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. now owns 1,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $386,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on ABBV. Citigroup lifted their price target 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. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.35.

AbbVie Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $196.36 on Wednesday. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $207.32. 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’s fifty day moving average is $179.25 and its 200-day moving average is $186.06. The company has a market capitalization of $347.00 billion, a PE ratio of 81.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.58.

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 net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 257.91%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.79 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 273.33%.

Insider Activity

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

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.