Avitas Wealth Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Avitas Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV – Get Rating) by 25.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 34,626 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,945 shares during the period. AbbVie makes up approximately 1.2% of Avitas Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Avitas Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $5,596,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in AbbVie by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 156,022,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,939,769,000 after buying an additional 2,442,663 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in AbbVie by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 77,486,317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,399,439,000 after buying an additional 366,695 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in AbbVie by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,530,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,919,162,000 after acquiring an additional 476,257 shares during the last quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. grew its position in AbbVie by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 11,011,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,686,504,000 after acquiring an additional 938,091 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in AbbVie by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,904,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,443,588,000 after acquiring an additional 176,026 shares during the last quarter. 67.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.7 %

AbbVie stock opened at $154.22 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $151.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $150.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.96. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $134.09 and a one year high of $175.91. The stock has a market cap of $272.88 billion, a PE ratio of 23.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.62.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 9th. The company reported $3.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.54 by $0.06. AbbVie had a return on equity of 154.52% and a net margin of 20.39%. The firm had revenue of $15.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.30 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.31 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 14th will be paid a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 13th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 89.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on ABBV. Guggenheim began coverage on AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, February 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $172.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Jaffray Companies upped their price objective on AbbVie from $157.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 10th. SVB Leerink raised AbbVie from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $153.00 in a research report on Friday, February 10th. Truist Financial increased their price target on AbbVie from $160.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $161.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 53,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.28, for a total transaction of $8,089,875.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 60,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,280,095.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other AbbVie news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 53,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.28, for a total value of $8,089,875.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 60,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,280,095.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.53, for a total value of $3,738,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 233,208 shares in the company, valued at $34,871,592.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 159,746 shares of company stock valued at $24,267,450 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

About AbbVie

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AbbVie, Inc is a research-based biopharmaceutical company, which engages in the development and sale of pharmaceutical products. It focuses on treating conditions such as chronic autoimmune diseases in rheumatology, gastroenterology, and dermatology, oncology, including blood cancers, virology, hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), neurological disorders, such as Parkinson’s, metabolic, comprising thyroid disease and complications associated with cystic fibrosis, pain associated with endometriosis, and other serious health conditions.