Provident Investment Management Inc. Buys 115 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Provident Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,052 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. Provident Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $898,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. now owns 12,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,159,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 9,842 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,749,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Doliver Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Doliver Advisors LP now owns 5,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $938,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC now owns 1,197 shares of the company’s stock worth $213,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total transaction of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at $2,338,401.36. This represents a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total value of $12,359,426.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at $11,183,398.72. This trade represents a 52.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 113,471 shares of company stock valued at $23,426,451. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on ABBV. Daiwa America lowered shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.45.

AbbVie Stock Performance

AbbVie stock opened at $201.31 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.58 and a fifty-two week high of $218.66. The company has a market capitalization of $356.11 billion, a PE ratio of 83.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $200.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $189.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued 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 return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 273.33%.

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.