Atwood & Palmer Inc. Boosts Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Atwood & Palmer Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 195,903 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,377 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for approximately 2.4% of Atwood & Palmer Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Atwood & Palmer Inc.'s holdings in AbbVie were worth $34,812,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 100.0% in 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

AbbVie stock traded down $3.42 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $169.19. 9,463,168 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,969,055. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $153.58 and a 12-month high of $207.32. 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 $298.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.58. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $175.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.84.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. The business's revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. This is a boost from AbbVie's previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.88%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 227.78%.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie to $195.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $191.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler Companies restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Daiwa America lowered shares of AbbVie from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.