National Bank of Canada FI Acquires 187,271 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 15.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,431,817 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 187,271 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.08% of AbbVie worth $254,394,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Daiwa America downgraded shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Daiwa Capital Markets cut AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total transaction of $3,853,399.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 54,639 shares of company stock valued at $11,067,025. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AbbVie Stock Up 2.2 %

ABBV stock opened at $209.83 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $371.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.43, a P/E/G 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. The business’s 50-day moving average is $198.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $189.02. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.58 and a fifty-two week high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.