HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Has $33.35 Million Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lowered its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 173,933 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,193 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for about 1.9% of HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $33,350,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,072,078 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,754,908,000 after buying an additional 1,424,237 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in AbbVie by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,067,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,614,329,000 after acquiring an additional 1,267,685 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,875,401,000 after acquiring an additional 3,599,336 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,459,385,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 17,246,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,064,773,000 after purchasing an additional 3,373,156 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABBV has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Daiwa Capital Markets cut AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Truist Financial raised their price target on AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AbbVie has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.45.

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE:ABBV opened at $205.12 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $197.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $188.91. The stock has a market cap of $362.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.47, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $153.58 and a 1-year high of $218.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the company posted $2.79 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given 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 3.20%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 273.33%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. This trade represents a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 54,639 shares of company stock valued at $11,067,025. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AbbVie Company 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.