LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC Purchases 2,222 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 38.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,978 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,222 shares during the quarter. LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,417,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,459,385,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at $1,190,951,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 32.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,097,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,215,903,000 after purchasing an additional 4,466,971 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in AbbVie by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,875,401,000 after buying an additional 3,599,336 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in AbbVie by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 17,246,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,064,773,000 after acquiring an additional 3,373,156 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ABBV. Truist Financial lifted their target price on AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total value of $12,359,426.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at $11,183,398.72. The trade was a 52.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total transaction of $3,853,399.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. This trade represents a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451 in the last ninety days. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE:ABBV opened at $174.90 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $309.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.87, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.58 and a fifty-two week high of $218.66. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $200.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $188.47.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued 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 net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.79 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 273.33%.

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.