Axis Wealth Partners LLC Invests $315,000 in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Axis Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $315,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. United Community Bank grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. United Community Bank now owns 5,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,056,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Barings LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 56.7% in the fourth quarter. Barings LLC now owns 1,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at $107,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 106,586 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,940,000 after acquiring an additional 11,474 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 8,347,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,489,992,000 after acquiring an additional 717,403 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total transaction of $6,070,159.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,985,223.60. This trade represents a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,439 shares of company stock valued at $11,377,057 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $214.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $378.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $187.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $187.53. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $153.58 and a 1-year high of $215.66.

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

AbbVie Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on ABBV. Truist Financial lifted their price target on AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. Leerink Partners raised shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group lifted 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.45.

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.