United Capital Management of KS Inc. Grows Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

United Capital Management of KS Inc. boosted its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,864 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the quarter. United Capital Management of KS Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $4,418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,190,951,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,875,401,000 after buying an additional 3,599,336 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,067,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,614,329,000 after buying an additional 1,267,685 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 26,693.1% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,176,754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $209,109,000 after buying an additional 1,172,362 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $186,431,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total transaction of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. This trade represents a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was 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 owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,985,223.60. The trade was a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,439 shares of company stock worth $11,377,057 in the last quarter. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Daiwa Capital Markets cut AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on AbbVie in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price target on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.45.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of ABBV opened at $211.90 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $374.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $218.66. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $191.09 and its 200-day moving average is $188.16.

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

AbbVie Announces Dividend

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 given a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 273.33%.

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.