Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. Boosts Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. grew its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,881 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,400,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp grew its stake in AbbVie by 1.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,067,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,614,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267,685 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,630,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,691,732,000 after buying an additional 511,470 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 6.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 10,175,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,009,542,000 after buying an additional 582,953 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 4.2% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,330,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,842,642,000 after acquiring an additional 373,802 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in AbbVie by 1,745.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,728,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $933,698,000 after acquiring an additional 4,471,806 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.2 %

AbbVie stock opened at $193.00 on Monday. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $207.32. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $178.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $186.03. 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 capitalization of $341.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 257.91%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.79 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.32 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Insider Transactions 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 approximately $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partnrs raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $191.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Leerink Partners upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Five equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.35.

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.