Perennial Investment Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Perennial Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 15.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,882 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 530 shares during the quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $690,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 40.3% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 38,974 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the business’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 transaction 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 approximately $4,429,199.90. The trade was a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total transaction of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at $2,338,401.36. The trade was a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 113,471 shares of company stock valued at $23,426,451 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $186.58 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $200.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $189.21. 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 has a market cap of $330.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.58 and a fifty-two week high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.79 EPS. On average, analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.52%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 273.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America lifted their price target on AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.45.

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.