Sky Investment Group LLC Boosts Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Sky Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 10.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 42,715 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,936 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises 1.4% of Sky Investment Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Sky Investment Group LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $7,590,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.2% during the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 11,380 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,952,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 139,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,996,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the period. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie in the 2nd quarter worth $86,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in AbbVie by 27.3% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,605,000 after buying an additional 1,857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 11.0% during the second quarter. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. now owns 59,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,181,000 after acquiring an additional 5,900 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE ABBV opened at $171.49 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $175.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $184.75. The stock has a market cap of $303.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.83%. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 215.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $228.00 to $208.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of AbbVie to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.50.

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.