AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Purchased by Verdence Capital Advisors LLC

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 14.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,453 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,127 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in AbbVie were worth $4,523,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. raised its position in AbbVie by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. The trade was a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,429,199.90. The trade was a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 56,439 shares of company stock worth $11,377,057. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE ABBV traded up $3.85 on Wednesday, hitting $211.61. 5,752,733 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,109,327. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The business's fifty day moving average is $186.27 and its 200 day moving average is $187.31. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $215.66. The company has a market capitalization of $373.57 billion, a PE ratio of 88.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.79 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. AbbVie's payout ratio is 273.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Truist Financial raised their price target on AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $220.00 target price (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets lowered AbbVie from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $211.45.

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.