Burney Co. Increases Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Burney Co. increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 64,416 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,396 shares during the period. Burney Co.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $11,447,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 4,140.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Financial & Tax Architects LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Financial & Tax Architects LLC now owns 37,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,441,000 after purchasing an additional 2,146 shares in the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 42.0% in the 2nd quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 18,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,209,000 after purchasing an additional 5,533 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $860,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 53.4% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 486,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,363,000 after purchasing an additional 169,211 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of ABBV opened at $171.32 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $177.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $184.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. The company has a market capitalization of $302.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 227.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ABBV. Guggenheim raised their price objective on AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on AbbVie from $228.00 to $208.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.50.

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.