Clare Market Investments LLC Buys Shares of 1,466 AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Clare Market Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $260,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in AbbVie by 0.3% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,147,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $424,014,000 after buying an additional 6,810 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 20.3% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 2,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $397,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 12.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,487,363 shares of the company’s stock worth $491,204,000 after purchasing an additional 273,078 shares during the period. United Bank bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter worth approximately $217,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 163.9% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 615,498 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,549,000 after purchasing an additional 382,242 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ABBV shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.45.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 56,439 shares of company stock valued at $11,377,057. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AbbVie Price Performance

AbbVie stock opened at $216.62 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $382.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.26, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $188.44 and its 200 day moving average is $187.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.79 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

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.