HTLF Bank Makes New $5.38 Million Investment in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

HTLF Bank acquired a new position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 34,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,376,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Fonville Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $300,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,164 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,505,000 after acquiring an additional 2,607 shares in the last quarter. Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp boosted its stake in AbbVie by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp now owns 10,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,621,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in AbbVie by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 412,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,941,000 after purchasing an additional 7,001 shares during the period. Finally, AIA Group Ltd increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 42.7% during the fourth quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 11,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,813,000 after purchasing an additional 3,499 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Trading Up 0.6 %

ABBV traded up $0.94 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $165.60. 1,371,384 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,580,114. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $175.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $159.97. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.96 and a 1-year high of $182.89. The company has a market cap of $293.22 billion, a PE ratio of 60.43, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $14.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.02 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 162.28%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.60 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 227.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ABBV. Truist Financial raised their price objective on AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. William Blair raised AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.43.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total transaction of $9,184,047.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 243,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total value of $24,572,458.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 519,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,020,679.73. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total transaction of $9,184,047.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003 over the last 90 days. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.