AbbVie Inc. $ABBV Shares Newly Bought by Vestor Capital LLC

Vestor Capital LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 803,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $210,223,000. AbbVie comprises approximately 5.9% of Vestor Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. AlphaCore Capital LLC grew its holdings in AbbVie by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 50,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,228,000 after acquiring an additional 5,092 shares during the last quarter. Palacios Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.2% in the third quarter. Palacios Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,672,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Clear Wave Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 5.6% during the third quarter. Clear Wave Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 6.6% during the third quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC now owns 2,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $682,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Joseph Group Capital Management raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 28.0% during the third quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management now owns 539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ABBV. BMO Capital Markets set a $315.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. Citigroup boosted their price target on AbbVie from $230.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on AbbVie from $300.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 2nd. Argus upped their price target on AbbVie from $250.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price objective on AbbVie from $288.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AbbVie has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $297.46.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 32,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $8,177,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 74,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,607,500. The trade was a 30.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AbbVie Trading Up 0.5%

ABBV opened at $292.87 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $272.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $239.42. The company has a market cap of $517.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.20. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $190.75 and a 12-month high of $302.93.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 30th. The company reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $17.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.32 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 15.67% and a negative return on equity of 450.55%. AbbVie’s revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.86 EPS. On average, analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 13.99 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.82 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 15th. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.73. This represents a $7.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 119.10%.

About AbbVie

AbbVie is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and markets medicines for a range of serious health conditions. Its research and product portfolio spans immunology, oncology, neuroscience and other therapeutic areas.

Key products include the immunology medicines Skyrizi and Rinvoq, cancer treatments such as Imbruvica and Venclexta, and neuroscience therapies including Botox and Vraylar. Through its Allergan acquisition, AbbVie also offers aesthetics products such as Botox Cosmetic and Juvéderm.

AbbVie was established in 2013 as a spin-off from Abbott Laboratories and is headquartered in North Chicago, Illinois.