Pittenger & Anderson Inc. Boosts Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. increased its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 117.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,305 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 10,976 shares during the quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $3,147,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC raised its position in AbbVie by 39.5% during the third quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Horrell Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter valued at about $45,000. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 459.7% during the third quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 240.0% during the 4th quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 340 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Finally, Naples Money Management LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at about $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.3 %

ABBV stock traded down $0.51 on Thursday, hitting $167.29. 5,448,982 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,594,160. The business’s fifty day moving average is $175.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $160.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.76. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $130.96 and a twelve month high of $182.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $296.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.03. AbbVie had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 162.28%. The firm had revenue of $14.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.60 earnings per share. AbbVie’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 227.11%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 5,144 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.65, for a total value of $908,687.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,233,546.95. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other AbbVie news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 9,891 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.39, for a total value of $1,754,564.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,397 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,844,323.83. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 5,144 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.65, for a total value of $908,687.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,233,546.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on ABBV. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. William Blair raised shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Barclays boosted their price target on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Guggenheim upped their price target on AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $177.43.

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.