Smith Anglin Financial LLC Boosts Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Smith Anglin Financial LLC increased its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,976 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. Smith Anglin Financial LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $707,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. raised its stake in AbbVie by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in AbbVie by 4,140.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABBV has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on AbbVie to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Argus raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $191.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on AbbVie in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 target price on the stock. 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.com, AbbVie has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.50.

AbbVie Stock Performance

ABBV opened at $171.32 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $302.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $177.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.63. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $153.58 and a 1-year high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. AbbVie’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.96 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is 227.78%.

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.