Ballast Advisors LLC Acquires 137 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Ballast Advisors LLC increased its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,674 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Ballast Advisors LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $475,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. DCF Advisers LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. DCF Advisers LLC now owns 31,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,598,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 100,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,898,000 after buying an additional 1,297 shares in the last quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 69,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,270,000 after buying an additional 2,565 shares during the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. grew its position in AbbVie by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 195,450 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,731,000 after acquiring an additional 6,375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Symmetry Partners LLC raised its stake in AbbVie by 40.1% during the fourth quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the company’s stock worth $325,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value of $6,070,159.30. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE ABBV opened at $211.54 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $373.44 billion, a PE ratio of 88.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $193.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $188.64. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share 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 296.28%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.79 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 273.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ABBV shares. Truist Financial raised their price objective on AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partners raised AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.45.

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.