AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Acquired by Physicians Financial Services Inc.

Physicians Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 12,150 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,159,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 40.3% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 38,974 shares in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 100.0% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Up 1.8 %

AbbVie stock opened at $200.98 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $153.58 and a 1-year high of $207.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $180.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $186.19. The company has a market capitalization of $354.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) 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 257.91%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.79 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is 273.33%.

Insider Activity

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,751.92. The trade was a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Argus upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. 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, Leerink Partners upgraded AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Five investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.35.

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.