AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Purchased by Ameritas Advisory Services LLC

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 18.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,936 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,657 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $4,254,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Groupama Asset Managment raised its position in AbbVie by 40.3% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 38,974 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the third quarter worth $28,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the third quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 100.0% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $171.49 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. The company has a market cap of $303.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.55, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $207.32. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $175.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $184.75.

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

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.83%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 215.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,202,751.92. The trade was a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen upped their price objective on AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Wolfe Research began coverage on AbbVie in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. Guggenheim increased their target price on AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Five investment 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.50.

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.