Southland Equity Partners LLC Has $5.06 Million Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Southland Equity Partners LLC grew its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 16.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,445 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 3,954 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for about 1.2% of Southland Equity Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Southland Equity Partners LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $5,055,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. GGM Financials LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 0.7% during the third quarter. GGM Financials LLC now owns 6,895 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 18,102 shares of the company's stock worth $3,575,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% during the third quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 6,914 shares of the company's stock worth $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. First Citizens Financial Corp boosted its stake in AbbVie by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp now owns 5,777 shares of the company's stock worth $1,141,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Sunflower Bank N.A. increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 13,723 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,710,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:ABBV traded down $0.62 on Friday, hitting $170.05. 5,584,343 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,522,214. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $175.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $184.66. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $207.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company has a market cap of $300.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last released its 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. The business 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 was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a boost from AbbVie's previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.86%. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 227.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on AbbVie to $195.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Argus raised AbbVie from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $191.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $205.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.