Cape Investment Advisory Inc. Raises Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Cape Investment Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 16.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,612 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the period. Cape Investment Advisory Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $286,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 100.0% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,338,401.36. This trade represents a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 56,439 shares of company stock worth $11,377,057. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Leerink Partners upgraded AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim raised their price objective on AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.35.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $209.07 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $369.09 billion, a PE ratio of 87.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $184.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $186.95. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.58 and a fifty-two week high of $209.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.79 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

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.