Empowered Funds LLC Acquires 15,934 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 19.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 97,178 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,934 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $17,269,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. GGM Financials LLC raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. GGM Financials LLC now owns 6,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,362,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. raised its stake in AbbVie by 0.8% in the third quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 6,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. raised its stake in AbbVie by 0.4% in the third quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 13,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,710,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Professional Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in AbbVie by 3.4% in the third quarter. Professional Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $323,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp raised its stake in AbbVie by 0.8% in the third quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 7,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,383,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE ABBV opened at $190.67 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $336.94 billion, a PE ratio of 79.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $177.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $185.60. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $153.58 and a 1-year high of $207.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released 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 257.91%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on ABBV. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.35.

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.