Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. lowered its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 73,669 shares of the company’s stock after selling 665 shares during the period. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $13,091,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $999,000. Saturna Capital Corp raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 486.1% in the third quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 676,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,531,000 after buying an additional 560,808 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 41.3% in the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,448,000 after buying an additional 15,550 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 39,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,011,000 after buying an additional 3,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 23.5% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 56,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,169,000 after acquiring an additional 10,768 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV stock opened at $170.42 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $175.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $184.73. The stock has a market cap of $301.15 billion, a PE ratio of 59.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $207.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

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

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.85%. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 227.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABBV has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price target on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Guggenheim increased their target price on AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. The trade was a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.