AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Acquired by Beech Hill Advisors Inc.

Beech Hill Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 27,728 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for 1.8% of Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $4,927,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in AbbVie by 1,745.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,728,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $933,698,000 after purchasing an additional 4,471,806 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in AbbVie by 1.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,067,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,614,329,000 after acquiring an additional 1,267,685 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in AbbVie by 59.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,096,858 shares of the company’s stock valued at $414,088,000 after acquiring an additional 781,858 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 10,175,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,009,542,000 after acquiring an additional 582,953 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Saturna Capital Corp boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 486.1% during the 3rd quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 676,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,531,000 after purchasing an additional 560,808 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ABBV shares. Leerink Partnrs raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Argus upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Daiwa America lowered shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.50.

AbbVie Price Performance

AbbVie stock opened at $173.68 on Friday. 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 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $207.32. The firm has a market cap of $306.91 billion, a PE ratio of 60.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50 day moving average is $176.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $184.54.

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

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders 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 an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.78%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 215.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 transaction of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. The trade was a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.