AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) is Welch Group LLC’s 9th Largest Position

Welch Group LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 364,516 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,317 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for 2.9% of Welch Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $64,228,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. GGM Financials LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.7% during the third quarter. GGM Financials LLC now owns 6,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc boosted its stake in AbbVie by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 18,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,575,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Dillon & Associates Inc. grew its position in AbbVie by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 6,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.4% in the third quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 13,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,710,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Professional Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 3.4% during the third quarter. Professional Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $323,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABBV has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on AbbVie from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.35.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the 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 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AbbVie Stock Up 3.4 %

ABBV stock opened at $190.20 on Tuesday. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $153.58 and a 1-year high of $207.32. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $176.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $336.12 billion, a PE ratio of 79.25, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 prior year, the firm posted $2.79 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.26 EPS for the current year.

About AbbVie

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.