Hilltop National Bank Purchases 108 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Hilltop National Bank boosted its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,736 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. Hilltop National Bank’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $842,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie by 4,140.0% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 8.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,897,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $497,005,000 after acquiring an additional 235,348 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in AbbVie in the second quarter valued at about $204,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 206.2% in the second quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 1,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $194,000 after acquiring an additional 763 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Achmea Investment Management B.V. raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 5.9% during the second quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 326,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,023,000 after purchasing an additional 18,304 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Stock Performance

ABBV traded down $2.10 during trading on Friday, hitting $176.40. The stock had a trading volume of 1,518,632 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,433,674. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year 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 firm has a market cap of $311.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $179.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $184.34.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.95 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.96 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 227.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ABBV. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wolfe Research began coverage on AbbVie in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Five equities 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 MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.50.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.