Financial & Tax Architects LLC Grows Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Financial & Tax Architects LLC raised its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 37,082 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 1,662 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises about 1.7% of Financial & Tax Architects LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Financial & Tax Architects LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $6,590,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in AbbVie by 1.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,067,935 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,614,329,000 after acquiring an additional 1,267,685 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 15,277,480 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,620,382,000 after purchasing an additional 134,239 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in AbbVie by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,630,404 shares of the company's stock worth $2,691,732,000 after purchasing an additional 511,470 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 6.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 10,175,926 shares of the company's stock worth $2,009,542,000 after purchasing an additional 582,953 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in AbbVie by 4.2% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,330,779 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,842,642,000 after buying an additional 373,802 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Leerink Partnrs upgraded AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Citigroup decreased their price target on AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Barclays increased their price objective on AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Leerink Partners raised shares of AbbVie from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $206.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $205.50.

AbbVie Stock Down 1.3 %

ABBV traded down $2.21 during trading on Friday, reaching $171.49. The stock had a trading volume of 7,581,211 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,943,678. 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 company has a market capitalization of $303.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.58. The stock's 50 day moving average is $175.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $184.60. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last issued 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 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 analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. AbbVie's quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business 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 $1.64 dividend. This is a boost from AbbVie's previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie's payout ratio is currently 215.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of AbbVie 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. The trade was a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AbbVie Company 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.