Empirical Asset Management LLC Boosts Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Empirical Asset Management LLC increased its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 574.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 226,263 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 192,734 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up about 1.2% of Empirical Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Empirical Asset Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $40,207,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. GGM Financials LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Dillon & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% during the third quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 6,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp now owns 5,777 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,141,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Sunflower Bank N.A. raised its stake in AbbVie by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 13,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,710,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 value 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 represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AbbVie Stock Up 1.4 %

ABBV stock opened at $173.68 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $306.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.30, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $176.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $184.54. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $153.58 and a 12 month high of $207.32. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This is a boost 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 3.78%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 215.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on ABBV. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Leerink Partners raised shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group increased their price objective 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. Piper Sandler boosted 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. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.50.

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.