Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. Takes $4.09 Million Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 26,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,088,000. AbbVie comprises 3.7% of Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Centric Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 9,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,569,000 after buying an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in AbbVie by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,451,975 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,774,569,000 after purchasing an additional 1,702,415 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 64,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,026,000 after purchasing an additional 5,519 shares during the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $576,000 after purchasing an additional 451 shares during the period. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 39.4% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 66,831 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,357,000 after buying an additional 18,902 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on AbbVie from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. William Blair upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.31.

AbbVie Trading Down 1.3 %

ABBV traded down $2.10 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $160.45. 5,760,735 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,661,256. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $172.48 and a 200 day moving average of $161.62. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.96 and a 12-month high of $182.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $284.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $12.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.93 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 165.18% and a net margin of 11.02%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.46 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.29 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.86%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is 183.98%.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,949 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.79, for a total value of $10,539,491.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 60,941 shares in the company, valued at $10,895,641.39. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were 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 worth $67,780,003 over the last 90 days. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.