Aspiriant LLC Acquires 412 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Aspiriant LLC grew its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,777 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 412 shares during the quarter. Aspiriant LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,560,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Groupama Asset Managment grew its stake in AbbVie by 40.3% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 38,974 shares during the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in AbbVie by 100.0% during 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 in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $172.41 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $175.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $184.80. 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 stock has a market cap of $304.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $207.32.

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

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.80%. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 227.78%.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Daiwa Capital Markets cut AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.50.

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.