Traynor Capital Management Inc. Raises Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Traynor Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 12.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,311 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 686 shares during the quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,121,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. Groupama Asset Managment increased its holdings in AbbVie by 40.3% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 38,974 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in AbbVie by 100.0% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ABBV. TD Cowen upped their target price on AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on AbbVie from $215.00 to $211.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.50.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $170.42 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $175.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $184.73. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $207.32. The company has a market cap of $301.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.58. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.85%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 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.