Wallace Advisory Group LLC Boosts Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Wallace Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,868 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Wallace Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $510,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. GGM Financials LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. GGM Financials LLC now owns 6,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,362,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.3% during the third quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 18,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,575,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. raised its stake in AbbVie by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 6,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,187,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Citizens Financial Corp boosted its stake in AbbVie by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp now owns 5,777 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,141,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV opened at $175.46 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $177.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $184.63. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $153.58 and a 12-month high of $207.32. The firm has a market cap of $310.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.92, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.95 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.96 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 227.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ABBV shares. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wolfe Research started coverage on AbbVie in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Argus upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.50.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.