CapWealth Advisors LLC Buys 284 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

CapWealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 11.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,827 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 284 shares during the period. CapWealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $438,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. increased its stake in AbbVie by 0.9% in the third quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 23,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,480,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the period. Torray Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Torray Investment Partners LLC now owns 21,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,159,000 after buying an additional 2,446 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. boosted its position in AbbVie by 21.3% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 26,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,936,000 after buying an additional 4,633 shares during the period. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in AbbVie by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $413,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 5.4% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 118,795 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,709,000 after acquiring an additional 6,139 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total value of $24,572,458.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 519,099 shares in the company, valued at $92,020,679.73. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other AbbVie news, COO Robert A. Michael sold 68,879 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.45, for a total transaction of $12,153,699.55. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 98,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,405,910.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total value of $24,572,458.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 519,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,020,679.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Raymond James increased their price target on AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. William Blair upgraded AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $177.43.

AbbVie Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of ABBV traded up $1.70 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $165.95. 1,917,269 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,602,575. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $293.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.96 and a 1 year high of $182.89. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $175.79 and its 200-day moving average is $159.94.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.03. AbbVie had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 162.28%. The business had revenue of $14.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.60 EPS. AbbVie’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.17 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.74%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 227.11%.

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.