Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC boosted its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 66,490 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,307 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up about 1.7% of Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $11,815,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 88.0% during the 4th quarter. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych now owns 940 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,000 after buying an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Prosperitas Financial LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Prosperitas Financial LLC now owns 14,795 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,629,000 after acquiring an additional 1,229 shares during the period. CORDA Investment Management LLC. lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. CORDA Investment Management LLC. now owns 7,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,336,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 292,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,996,000 after acquiring an additional 1,912 shares during the period. Finally, Brueske Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at $285,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price target for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.35.

AbbVie Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $205.06 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $362.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.44, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $207.32. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $183.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $186.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 previous year, the firm posted $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 273.33%.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,429,199.90. The trade was a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the 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 directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,751.92. The trade was a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.