Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Raises Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 69,595 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,146 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $12,367,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,573,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $279,669,000 after buying an additional 100,418 shares in the last quarter. Windle Wealth LLC grew its holdings in AbbVie by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Windle Wealth LLC now owns 41,022 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,290,000 after purchasing an additional 1,854 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its holdings in AbbVie by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 65,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,641,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the period. Natural Investments LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,533,000. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. grew its holdings in AbbVie by 31.6% in the fourth quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 1,009,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $179,387,000 after purchasing an additional 242,337 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE ABBV opened at $211.80 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $189.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $187.89. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $218.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The stock has a market cap of $373.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 88.25, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (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 quarter last year, the firm earned $2.79 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 273.33%.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value of $6,070,159.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,985,223.60. This represents a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. The trade was a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,439 shares of company stock valued at $11,377,057 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABBV has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.45.

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.