Gradient Investments LLC Purchases 7,894 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Gradient Investments LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 10.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 85,459 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,894 shares during the quarter. Gradient Investments LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $15,186,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Alethea Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $488,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 3,909.8% during the second quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC now owns 13,914 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,387,000 after acquiring an additional 13,567 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,102 shares in the last quarter. Annandale Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 686.6% in the 2nd quarter. Annandale Capital LLC now owns 29,106 shares of the company's stock worth $4,992,000 after purchasing an additional 25,406 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Copperwynd Financial LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 29.5% during the 2nd quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 1,562 shares of the company's stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the company'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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on AbbVie in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $205.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $205.50.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of ABBV stock traded down $0.62 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $170.05. The stock had a trading volume of 5,584,343 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,522,214. 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 stock's 50-day moving average price is $175.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $184.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $300.51 billion, a PE ratio of 59.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.95 EPS. Equities analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This is a positive change 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 3.86%. AbbVie's payout ratio is presently 227.78%.

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.