Strategic Financial Services Inc. Increases Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Strategic Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,274 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 222 shares during the quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $759,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Five equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.45.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

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

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE ABBV opened at $212.21 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $193.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $188.48. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $218.66. The company has a market cap of $374.62 billion, a PE ratio of 88.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.79 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

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