Carnegie Investment Counsel Raises Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Carnegie Investment Counsel raised its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 14.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 44,023 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,592 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel's holdings in AbbVie were worth $7,823,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the third quarter valued at approximately $999,000. Saturna Capital Corp boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 486.1% in the 3rd quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 676,176 shares of the company's stock valued at $133,531,000 after acquiring an additional 560,808 shares during the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 41.3% in the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,171 shares of the company's stock worth $9,448,000 after acquiring an additional 15,550 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 39,453 shares of the company's stock worth $7,011,000 after purchasing an additional 3,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 23.5% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 56,556 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,169,000 after buying an additional 10,768 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on ABBV. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on AbbVie in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Argus raised AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Five investment 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $205.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. The trade was a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AbbVie Stock Down 1.3 %

ABBV traded down $2.21 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $171.49. 7,581,211 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,538,325. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $153.58 and a 12-month high of $207.32. The firm has a market cap of $303.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $175.78 and a 200 day moving average of $184.47.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. AbbVie'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 company posted $2.95 earnings per share. Analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business 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 $1.64 dividend. This is a positive change from AbbVie's previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.