Certuity LLC Buys 3,999 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Certuity LLC increased its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 81.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,928 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,999 shares during the quarter. Certuity LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in AbbVie by 0.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,747,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,961,001,000 after acquiring an additional 1,450,089 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in AbbVie by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,175,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,796,085,000 after acquiring an additional 914,485 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 21,936,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,269,822,000 after purchasing an additional 491,391 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in AbbVie by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 20,356,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,034,276,000 after buying an additional 352,817 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 1.4% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 14,066,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,098,436,000 after acquiring an additional 199,833 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

AbbVie stock traded up $0.65 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $162.17. The company had a trading volume of 2,611,211 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,627,490. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $174.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $161.00. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.96 and a 1 year high of $182.89. The company has a market capitalization of $287.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $12.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.93 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 11.02% and a return on equity of 165.18%. The company’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.46 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.19 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 183.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total transaction of $24,572,458.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 519,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $92,020,679.73. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Scott T. Reents sold 14,140 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.44, for a total value of $2,509,001.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,065 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,802,413.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total value of $24,572,458.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 519,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,020,679.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABBV has been the subject of several recent research reports. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. William Blair raised shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.31.

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.