Vista Investment Partners II LLC Takes $415,000 Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Vista Investment Partners II LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 2,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $415,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ABBV. Groupama Asset Managment grew its position in AbbVie by 40.3% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 38,974 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value of $6,070,159.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,985,223.60. This represents a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,439 shares of company stock valued at $11,377,057 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $214.55 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $378.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $187.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $187.47. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $215.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released 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 net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.79 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 273.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on ABBV. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.45.

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.