Hoey Investments Inc. Grows Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Hoey Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 15.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,920 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 536 shares during the period. Hoey Investments Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $697,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% in the 4th 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 raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,067,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,614,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267,685 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,875,401,000 after purchasing an additional 3,599,336 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth about $4,459,385,000. Finally, Amundi increased its position in AbbVie by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 8,347,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,489,992,000 after purchasing an additional 717,403 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $205.12 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $362.85 billion, a PE ratio of 85.47, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $197.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $188.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the firm posted $2.79 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 273.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Erste Group Bank raised shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim raised their price objective on AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America upped their target price on AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.45.

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.