Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Makes New $1.60 Million Investment in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 9,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,604,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in AbbVie by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,072,078 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,754,908,000 after purchasing an additional 1,424,237 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in AbbVie by 1.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,067,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,614,329,000 after acquiring an additional 1,267,685 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in AbbVie by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,875,401,000 after purchasing an additional 3,599,336 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at $4,459,385,000. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 8,347,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,489,992,000 after purchasing an additional 717,403 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of ABBV opened at $205.12 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $362.85 billion, a PE ratio of 85.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $153.58 and a 12 month high of $218.66. 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’s 50 day moving average is $197.50 and its 200-day moving average is $189.02.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (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 last year, the business earned $2.79 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. This trade represents a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value of $6,070,159.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,985,223.60. This trade represents a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the subject of several recent research reports. Erste Group Bank raised AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim raised their target price on AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.45.

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.