AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Acquired by Michael S. Ryan Inc.

Michael S. Ryan Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,635 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for 0.4% of Michael S. Ryan Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Michael S. Ryan Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $646,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Legacy Private Trust Co. increased its holdings in AbbVie by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Private Trust Co. now owns 25,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,481,000 after buying an additional 915 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank lifted its stake in AbbVie by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,209,000 after purchasing an additional 996 shares during the last quarter. InvesTrust acquired a new position in AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth $1,466,000. Fulton Bank N.A. increased its stake in AbbVie by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 53,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,429,000 after purchasing an additional 5,351 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weaver Consulting Group raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Weaver Consulting Group now owns 1,349 shares of the company’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE ABBV traded down $0.88 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $178.65. The company had a trading volume of 3,869,093 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,909,940. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $315.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.03, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $180.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $184.42. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $153.58 and a 12-month high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.96 EPS for the current 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 of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.67%. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 227.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on ABBV. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group raised their target price on AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $228.00 to $208.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.50.

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.