Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. Boosts Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,419 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,305,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in AbbVie by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,747,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,961,001,000 after purchasing an additional 1,450,089 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 2.9% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,175,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,796,085,000 after buying an additional 914,485 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 2.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 21,936,279 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,269,822,000 after buying an additional 491,391 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1.8% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 20,356,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,034,276,000 after buying an additional 352,817 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1.4% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 14,066,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,098,436,000 after buying an additional 199,833 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

AbbVie stock traded up $2.98 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $163.79. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,850,102 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,457,836. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $130.96 and a twelve month high of $182.89. The firm has a market cap of $290.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.60, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $173.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $161.22.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.05. AbbVie had a net margin of 11.02% and a return on equity of 165.18%. The firm had revenue of $12.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.46 earnings per share. AbbVie’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 183.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ABBV shares. William Blair upgraded AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Raymond James increased their price target on AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Truist Financial increased their price target on AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Barclays lowered their price target on AbbVie from $195.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on AbbVie from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.31.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at $42,375,512.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total value of $9,184,047.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at $42,375,512.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total value of $3,716,756.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,855,698.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003 over the last three months. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.