PFW Advisors LLC Takes Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew 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 valued at $15,614,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267,685 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 15,277,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,620,382,000 after buying an additional 134,239 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,630,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,691,732,000 after acquiring an additional 511,470 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 6.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 10,175,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,009,542,000 after acquiring an additional 582,953 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 4.2% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,330,779 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,842,642,000 after acquiring an additional 373,802 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ABBV. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price target for the company. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.50.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,751.92. The trade was a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE:ABBV opened at $176.94 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market cap of $312.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.44, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $178.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $184.61. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.96 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company 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 of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.71%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 227.78%.

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.