Howe & Rusling Inc. Increases Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Howe & Rusling Inc. grew its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 14.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 83,647 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,370 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises 1.3% of Howe & Rusling Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Howe & Rusling Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $14,864,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,202,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 30.5% in the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 95,789 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,022,000 after buying an additional 22,381 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its position in AbbVie by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 99,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,670,000 after acquiring an additional 15,690 shares in the last quarter. Moment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,027,000. Finally, Sava Infond d.o.o. purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,886,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on ABBV shares. Truist Financial raised their price objective on AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Raymond James reissued 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.45.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now 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. Insiders have sold a total of 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $201.16 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $196.25 and a 200 day moving average of $188.87. The firm has a market cap of $355.13 billion, a PE ratio of 83.82, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released 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 previous year, the company posted $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 273.33%.

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.