Searle & CO. Purchases 2,300 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Searle & CO. grew its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 46,747 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,300 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up 2.0% of Searle & CO.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Searle & CO.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $7,244,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in AbbVie by 0.9% in the third quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 23,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,480,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the period. Torray Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 13.0% in the third quarter. Torray Investment Partners LLC now owns 21,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,159,000 after purchasing an additional 2,446 shares during the period. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. boosted its position in AbbVie by 21.3% during the third quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 26,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,936,000 after acquiring an additional 4,633 shares during the last quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in AbbVie by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $413,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Opinicus Capital Inc. bought a new stake in AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at $1,296,000. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on ABBV shares. Barclays cut their price target on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total transaction of $9,184,047.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 243,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total value of $9,184,047.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total transaction of $3,716,756.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,855,698.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE:ABBV traded down $0.92 on Wednesday, hitting $161.72. The stock had a trading volume of 5,174,201 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,657,097. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $286.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.96 and a 1 year high of $182.89. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $174.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $161.10.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly 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. AbbVie had a net margin of 11.02% and a return on equity of 165.18%. The firm had revenue of $12.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.46 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.27 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 183.98%.

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.