Essex Financial Services Inc. Increases Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Essex Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,715 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,011 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $6,880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Groupama Asset Managment raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 40.3% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 38,974 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie during the third quarter worth $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 100.0% in the third 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Daiwa America lowered shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group raised their target price on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on AbbVie in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $191.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.35.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE:ABBV opened at $190.31 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $336.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.58. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $177.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $185.75.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 257.91%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.79 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.32 EPS for the current year.

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.