AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Stake Increased by Verus Financial Partners Inc.

Verus Financial Partners Inc. grew its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 11.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,670 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 373 shares during the quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $603,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ABBV. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 29,922.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,032,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $899,186,000 after buying an additional 6,012,281 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at $499,955,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,451,975 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,774,569,000 after acquiring an additional 1,702,415 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,747,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,961,001,000 after purchasing an additional 1,450,089 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 201.7% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,143,910 shares of the company’s stock worth $332,242,000 after buying an additional 1,433,236 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.0 %

ABBV traded down $0.03 during trading on Thursday, reaching $160.42. The company had a trading volume of 913,421 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,609,591. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $172.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $161.62. The company has a market cap of $283.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.83, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.61. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.96 and a 12-month high of $182.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.87.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.05. AbbVie had a return on equity of 165.18% and a net margin of 11.02%. The firm had revenue of $12.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.46 earnings per share. AbbVie’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.29 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 183.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays cut their target price on AbbVie from $195.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, William Blair raised AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Three research 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 data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 5,144 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.65, for a total value of $908,687.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,233,546.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 519,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,020,679.73. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 5,144 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 worth $67,780,003. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AbbVie Company 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.