HM Payson & Co. Acquires 8,585 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

HM Payson & Co. grew its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 578,416 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 8,585 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises about 2.0% of HM Payson & Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $114,226,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in AbbVie by 4,140.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the period. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie during the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Burkett Financial Services LLC boosted its position in AbbVie by 61.2% during the third quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 216 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total value of $12,403,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 446,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,299,645.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV traded up $3.94 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $205.44. 525,538 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,294,006. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $193.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $178.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $362.78 billion, a PE ratio of 59.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.63. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.85 and a 12 month high of $207.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 203.66% and a net margin of 9.71%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 183.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on ABBV shares. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Bank of America raised their price target on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Citigroup raised their target price on AbbVie from $170.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on AbbVie from $214.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.11.

AbbVie 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.