CapWealth Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

CapWealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 11.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,827 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 284 shares during the quarter. CapWealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $438,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its position in AbbVie by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 11,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,776,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Avion Wealth boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 612 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Goepper Burkhardt LLC boosted its stake in AbbVie by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Goepper Burkhardt LLC now owns 3,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $567,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust raised its holdings in AbbVie by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 18,125 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,809,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hudock Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Hudock Inc. now owns 2,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $434,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of ABBV traded up $1.70 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $165.95. The stock had a trading volume of 1,917,269 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,602,575. The company’s 50-day moving average is $175.79 and its 200 day moving average is $159.94. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.96 and a 12-month high of $182.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02. The company has a market capitalization of $293.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.03. AbbVie had a return on equity of 162.28% and a net margin of 8.95%. The firm had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.60 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 227.11%.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total value of $9,184,047.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total value of $9,184,047.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total value of $24,572,458.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 519,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,020,679.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003 in the last ninety days. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ABBV shares. Barclays increased their price target on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. William Blair raised AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Raymond James boosted their target price on AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $177.43.

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.