HUB Investment Partners LLC Boosts Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

HUB Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 69,050 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,565 shares during the quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $12,270,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Everence Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 41.3% in the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,448,000 after buying an additional 15,550 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 39,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,011,000 after buying an additional 3,439 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in AbbVie by 1.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,067,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,614,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267,685 shares during the last quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC now owns 42,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,590,000 after purchasing an additional 3,936 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in AbbVie by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 25,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,523,000 after purchasing an additional 3,654 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE ABBV opened at $212.21 on Thursday. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $218.66. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $193.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $188.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $374.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.42, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS 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 296.28%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.79 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.09%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 273.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,338,401.36. This represents a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total transaction of $6,070,159.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,985,223.60. The trade was a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,639 shares of company stock valued at $11,067,025 over the last 90 days. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.45.

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.