HB Wealth Management LLC Raises Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 12.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 107,938 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 12,036 shares during the quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $19,180,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. Sara Bay Financial boosted its position in AbbVie by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Sara Bay Financial now owns 13,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,401,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Financial & Tax Architects LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Financial & Tax Architects LLC now owns 37,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,590,000 after purchasing an additional 1,662 shares during the period. Gill Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 67.4% during the fourth quarter. Gill Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 701 shares in the last quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in AbbVie by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 10,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,853,000 after purchasing an additional 1,353 shares during the period. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 3,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $668,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE:ABBV opened at $171.49 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $303.05 billion, a PE ratio of 59.55, a P/E/G 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. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $175.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $184.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.83%. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 215.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of AbbVie from $228.00 to $208.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.50.

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.