Strategic Financial Services Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Strategic Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,274 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $759,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Next Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Next Capital Management LLC now owns 2,449 shares of the company’s stock valued at $435,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. L.K. Benson & Company P.C. purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $347,000. Generali Investments Management Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,553,000. GM Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 41.7% during the fourth quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $638,000 after purchasing an additional 1,056 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vinva Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in AbbVie by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 92,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,234,000 after acquiring an additional 1,498 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ABBV. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a 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 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AbbVie news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value of $6,070,159.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,985,223.60. The trade was a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. The trade was a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 54,639 shares of company stock valued at $11,067,025. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $212.21 on Thursday. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $153.58 and a 1 year high of $218.66. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $193.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $188.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $374.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.42, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

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.