Empirical Asset Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Empirical Asset Management LLC grew its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 574.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 226,263 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 192,734 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up about 1.2% of Empirical Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Empirical Asset Management LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $40,207,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 4,140.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 212 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 27.2% in the 2nd quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 10,247 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,758,000 after acquiring an additional 2,189 shares during the last quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in AbbVie by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 26,014 shares of the company's stock worth $4,462,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453 shares in the last quarter. Miramar Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 102,841 shares of the company's stock valued at $17,639,000 after purchasing an additional 764 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concorde Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 2.6% during the second quarter. Concorde Asset Management LLC now owns 3,151 shares of the company's stock valued at $540,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ABBV shares. Leerink Partnrs upgraded AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on AbbVie in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $205.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Argus upgraded shares of AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $205.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Trading Down 1.3 %

ABBV stock traded down $2.21 during trading on Friday, hitting $171.49. The company had a trading volume of 7,581,211 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,538,325. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $207.32. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $175.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $303.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.55, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This is an increase from AbbVie's previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.83%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio is presently 215.28%.

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.