Willner & Heller LLC Increases Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Willner & Heller LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 6.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,448 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 491 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up about 1.3% of Willner & Heller LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Willner & Heller LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,501,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Groupama Asset Managment increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 40.3% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 38,974 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new position in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $171.49 on Monday. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $153.58 and a 1 year high of $207.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company has a 50-day moving average of $175.78 and a 200 day moving average of $184.75. The firm has a market cap of $303.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.55, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The business’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. 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 3.83%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 215.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ABBV shares. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.