Tower Bridge Advisors Acquires 75 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Tower Bridge Advisors grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 40,078 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the quarter. Tower Bridge Advisors’ holdings in AbbVie were worth $7,122,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 40.3% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 38,974 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

AbbVie stock opened at $209.07 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. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $153.58 and a 1-year high of $209.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $369.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50-day moving average is $184.42 and its 200 day moving average is $186.98.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.79 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 273.33%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $6,070,159.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,985,223.60. This trade represents a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s 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 directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 56,439 shares of company stock valued at $11,377,057. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on ABBV shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partners raised shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $191.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Five 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.35.

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.