Strong Tower Advisory Services Raises Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Strong Tower Advisory Services lifted its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 10.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,163 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,044 shares during the period. Strong Tower Advisory Services’ holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,984,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in AbbVie by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Leerink Partners upgraded AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of AbbVie to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.50.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $171.49 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $207.32. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $175.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $184.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $303.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 EPS 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 paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 215.28%.

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.