Cathy Pareto & Associates Inc. Makes New Investment in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Cathy Pareto & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 1,799 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $320,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ascent Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 25,778 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,421,000 after buying an additional 1,102 shares in the last quarter. Annandale Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 686.6% in the second quarter. Annandale Capital LLC now owns 29,106 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,992,000 after buying an additional 25,406 shares in the last quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 29.5% in the 2nd quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 1,562 shares of the company's stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares in the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 89.5% in the second quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,256 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,588,000 after buying an additional 4,371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silver Lake Advisory LLC boosted its position in AbbVie by 2.6% during the second quarter. Silver Lake Advisory LLC now owns 57,427 shares of the company's stock worth $9,850,000 after purchasing an additional 1,456 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

ABBV traded up $6.60 during trading on Monday, reaching $176.90. 6,984,200 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,118,210. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $175.84 and a 200 day moving average of $184.89. The stock has a market cap of $312.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.42, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) 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. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.95 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.71%. This is a boost from AbbVie's previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 227.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on AbbVie from $228.00 to $208.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Bank of America reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $191.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on AbbVie in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $205.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen upped their target price on AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $205.50.

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.