Pillar Financial Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 600 AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $107,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ABBV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Leerink Partners raised shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.45.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $1,143,466.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. This trade represents a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total transaction of $3,853,399.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at $2,338,401.36. This represents a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 56,439 shares of company stock worth $11,377,057. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV opened at $214.55 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $187.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $187.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $153.58 and a 1 year high of $215.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $378.75 billion, a PE ratio of 89.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 273.33%.

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.