Opinicus Capital Inc. Makes New $1.30 Million Investment in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Opinicus Capital Inc. bought a new position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 8,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,296,000. AbbVie accounts for approximately 1.3% of Opinicus Capital Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,747,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,961,001,000 after purchasing an additional 1,450,089 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 2.9% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,175,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,796,085,000 after purchasing an additional 914,485 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 2.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 21,936,279 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,269,822,000 after purchasing an additional 491,391 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1.8% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 20,356,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,034,276,000 after purchasing an additional 352,817 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1.4% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 14,066,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,098,436,000 after purchasing an additional 199,833 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABBV has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial increased their price target on AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Guggenheim raised their target price on AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. William Blair raised AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $177.43.

AbbVie Trading Down 4.6 %

Shares of NYSE ABBV traded down $7.67 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $159.62. 10,721,740 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,004,945. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.96 and a 1 year high of $182.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $282.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.47, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02. The business has a 50 day moving average of $174.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $160.74.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $12.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.93 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 162.28% and a net margin of 8.95%. AbbVie’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.46 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 227.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 5,144 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.65, for a total transaction of $908,687.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,233,546.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total transaction of $9,184,047.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 5,144 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.65, for a total value of $908,687.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,233,546.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

About AbbVie

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.