BluePath Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

BluePath Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 20.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 11,158 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,902 shares during the period. AbbVie makes up 1.1% of BluePath Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. BluePath Capital Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,972,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Sendero Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Sendero Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,251 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,289,000 after buying an additional 706 shares during the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc lifted its position in AbbVie by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 5,156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $916,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in AbbVie by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 9,842 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,749,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 7,273 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,292,000 after purchasing an additional 905 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Burney Co. increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 64,416 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,447,000 after purchasing an additional 1,396 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ABBV shares. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $191.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AbbVie Price Performance

AbbVie stock opened at $171.32 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.65. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $207.32. The company has a market cap of $302.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a fifty day moving average of $177.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $184.63.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.83%. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 227.78%.

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.