Beech Hill Advisors Inc. Purchases 217 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Beech Hill Advisors Inc. lifted its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 27,728 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for approximately 1.8% of Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $4,927,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 4,140.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the period. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC grew its stake in AbbVie by 27.2% in the second quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 10,247 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,758,000 after purchasing an additional 2,189 shares during the last quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in AbbVie by 5.9% in the second quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 26,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,462,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453 shares in the last quarter. Miramar Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.7% during the second quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 102,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,639,000 after buying an additional 764 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concorde Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Concorde Asset Management LLC now owns 3,151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $540,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of ABBV opened at $173.68 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $176.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. The company has a market capitalization of $306.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.30, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.95 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.78%. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is 215.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ABBV shares. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 target price for the company. Citigroup lowered their price objective on AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wolfe Research began coverage on AbbVie in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Daiwa America downgraded shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.50.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.