Guardian Investment Management Has $3.16 Million Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Guardian Investment Management decreased its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,801 shares of the company’s stock after selling 450 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up 2.2% of Guardian Investment Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Guardian Investment Management’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $3,163,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the third quarter worth $28,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on ABBV. Daiwa America lowered AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Leerink Partnrs raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Argus upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.50.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV opened at $171.49 on Monday. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.58 and a fifty-two week high of $207.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $175.78 and a 200 day moving average of $184.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $303.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.55, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.58.

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

AbbVie Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.