Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. Increases Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 12.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,607 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 610 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $997,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Intrust Bank NA raised its stake in AbbVie by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 23,127 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,110,000 after buying an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 4,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $734,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,255 shares of the company’s stock worth $401,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allstate Corp increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 3,114.9% in the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 52,499 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,329,000 after acquiring an additional 50,866 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Up 1.2 %

ABBV stock opened at $205.12 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $197.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $188.95. The company has a market capitalization of $362.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week 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.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $2.79 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ABBV. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim lifted their target price on AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,429,199.90. This trade represents a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at $2,338,401.36. This trade represents a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.