Exchange Capital Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 1,587 AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Exchange Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $282,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 100.0% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $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 third quarter valued at $39,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Price Performance

AbbVie stock opened at $204.19 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $360.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.08, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $153.58 and a 1 year high of $207.32. The business has a 50-day moving average of $182.48 and a 200-day moving average of $186.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business earned $2.79 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate 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 given a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 273.33%.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ABBV shares. Guggenheim lifted their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on AbbVie from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Argus raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.35.

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.