AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Bought by Sky Investment Group LLC

Sky Investment Group LLC increased its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 10.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,715 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,936 shares during the quarter. AbbVie comprises about 1.4% of Sky Investment Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Sky Investment Group LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $7,590,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Groupama Asset Managment raised its position in AbbVie by 40.3% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 38,974 shares during the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $171.49 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $175.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company has a market cap of $303.05 billion, a PE ratio of 59.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $153.58 and a 12 month high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. AbbVie’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.83%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 215.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on ABBV shares. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on AbbVie in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price target for the company. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $228.00 to $208.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. 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.com, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.50.

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.