Wright Investors Service Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Wright Investors Service Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 16.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,272 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,438 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for approximately 2.0% of Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $7,171,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. raised its position in AbbVie by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 23,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,480,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Torray Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Torray Investment Partners LLC now owns 21,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,159,000 after acquiring an additional 2,446 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 21.3% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 26,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,936,000 after acquiring an additional 4,633 shares during the last quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $413,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 118,795 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,709,000 after acquiring an additional 6,139 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Up 1.5 %

ABBV stock traded up $2.52 during trading on Thursday, reaching $166.77. 1,449,669 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,595,890. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $295.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $175.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $159.94. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $130.96 and a 12 month high of $182.89.

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

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 227.11%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other AbbVie news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 13,753 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.51, for a total transaction of $2,441,295.03. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,173 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,000,989.23. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.