Blue Trust Inc. Buys 8,959 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 22.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,171 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,959 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $8,560,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Daiwa America cut AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating 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. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets cut AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.35.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,202,751.92. The trade was a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AbbVie Price Performance

AbbVie stock opened at $193.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.65. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $207.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $341.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $178.59 and a 200-day moving average of $185.96.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a return on equity of 257.91% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.79 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. 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 3.40%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 273.33%.

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.