Bellecapital International Ltd. Increases Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Bellecapital International Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 8.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 62,569 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,631 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises approximately 2.0% of Bellecapital International Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Bellecapital International Ltd.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $11,119,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in AbbVie by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,147,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $424,014,000 after purchasing an additional 6,810 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its position in AbbVie by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 2,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $397,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. boosted its position in AbbVie by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 31,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,176,000 after acquiring an additional 4,299 shares in the last quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. boosted its position in AbbVie by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. now owns 10,010 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,977,000 after acquiring an additional 1,152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in AbbVie by 18.0% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 23,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,594,000 after acquiring an additional 3,542 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were 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 owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,985,223.60. This represents a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,439 shares of company stock worth $11,377,057 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on ABBV shares. Leerink Partnrs raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Leerink Partners raised AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Wolfe Research started coverage on AbbVie in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Five 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.35.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of ABBV opened at $209.07 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The firm has a market cap of $369.09 billion, a PE ratio of 87.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $153.58 and a 1-year high of $209.60. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $184.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $186.95.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the business earned $2.79 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. 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.