Werlinich Asset Management LLC Grows Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Werlinich Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,760 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 110 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up 1.8% of Werlinich Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Werlinich Asset Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $3,129,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. GGM Financials LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. GGM Financials LLC now owns 6,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.3% in the third quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 18,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,575,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 6,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. First Citizens Financial Corp lifted its position in AbbVie by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp now owns 5,777 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,141,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunflower Bank N.A. boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 13,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,710,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on AbbVie in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $173.68 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $153.58 and a 12-month 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 company has a market cap of $306.91 billion, a PE ratio of 60.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $176.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.54.

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

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 215.28%.

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.