AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Bought by Ellenbecker Investment Group

Ellenbecker Investment Group increased its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 5,884 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $911,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ABBV. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. lifted 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 valued at $3,480,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Torray Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Torray Investment Partners LLC now owns 21,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,159,000 after purchasing an additional 2,446 shares during the period. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. boosted its position in AbbVie by 21.3% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 26,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,936,000 after acquiring an additional 4,633 shares during the period. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in AbbVie by 17.6% during 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 during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp boosted its position in AbbVie by 5.4% during the 3rd 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. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABBV has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. William Blair upgraded AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.43.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total transaction of $9,184,047.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at $42,375,512.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total transaction of $9,184,047.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total value of $3,716,756.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,855,698.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of AbbVie stock traded up $1.65 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $169.54. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,083,067 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,615,512. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $130.96 and a 12 month high of $182.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $175.34 and a 200 day moving average of $160.42. The company has a market capitalization of $300.20 billion, a PE ratio of 62.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.02 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 162.28% and a net margin of 8.95%. AbbVie’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.60 earnings per share. Analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.16 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be given 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 3.66%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 227.11%.

AbbVie Company 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.