LaFleur & Godfrey LLC Raises Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

LaFleur & Godfrey LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 79,396 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,108 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for about 1.9% of LaFleur & Godfrey LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $14,109,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.2% in the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 11,380 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,952,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its position in AbbVie by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 139,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,996,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the period. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie in the second quarter worth $86,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 27.3% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,605,000 after acquiring an additional 1,857 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 11.0% during the second quarter. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. now owns 59,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,181,000 after acquiring an additional 5,900 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $191.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $228.00 to $208.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.50.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $171.49 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $303.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.55, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $207.32. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $175.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.65.

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

AbbVie Increases Dividend

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

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.