Empowered Funds LLC Has $17.27 Million Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 19.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 97,178 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,934 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $17,269,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ABBV. Groupama Asset Managment grew its stake in AbbVie by 40.3% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 38,974 shares in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE ABBV opened at $190.67 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $177.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $185.60. 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. The company has a market cap of $336.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.45, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 257.91%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.79 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ABBV. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $191.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Five equities 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, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.35.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.