Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Raises Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 270,178 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,250 shares during the quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $48,011,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. GGM Financials LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.7% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. now owns 12,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,159,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carr Financial Group Corp boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.1% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. 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 report on Thursday, December 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.35.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $211.27 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $372.97 billion, a PE ratio of 88.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $185.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $187.04. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $212.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.79 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 273.33%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total transaction of $6,070,159.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,985,223.60. The trade was a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 56,439 shares of company stock valued at $11,377,057. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.