Meritage Portfolio Management Grows Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 24.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,558 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 888 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 11,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,776,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc raised its holdings in AbbVie by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 2,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $349,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Avion Wealth raised its holdings in AbbVie by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 612 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. First Bank & Trust raised its holdings in AbbVie by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 18,125 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,809,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hudock Inc. raised its holdings in AbbVie by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Hudock Inc. now owns 2,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $434,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO Scott T. Reents sold 14,140 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.44, for a total value of $2,509,001.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,802,413.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total transaction of $9,184,047.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003 in the last 90 days. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV traded down $7.97 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $159.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,576,357 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,611,708. The firm has a market cap of $282.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $174.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $160.67. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.96 and a 1-year high of $182.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.87.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $12.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.93 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 162.28%. The company’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.46 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 227.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on ABBV. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, William Blair upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Three research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.43.

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.