3,527 Shares in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Purchased by Saxon Interests Inc.

Saxon Interests Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $547,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Polar Capital Holdings Plc raised its holdings in AbbVie by 11.6% during the second quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 358,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,351,000 after purchasing an additional 37,368 shares in the last quarter. 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 buying an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. 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 buying an additional 2,446 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. increased its holdings in AbbVie by 21.3% in 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 buying an additional 4,633 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $413,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ABBV. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of AbbVie from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $173.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, December 11th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, William Blair raised shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.43.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 5,144 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.65, for a total value of $908,687.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,233,546.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 5,144 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.65, for a total value of $908,687.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,233,546.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:ABBV traded up $1.62 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $181.97. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,418,371 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,696,566. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $174.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $157.96. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.96 and a 1 year high of $182.89. The firm has a market cap of $322.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 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.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.02 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 162.28%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.60 EPS. Research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.15 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 227.11%.

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.