AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Stake Lifted by ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 317,236 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 561 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up approximately 2.5% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $49,162,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 39.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, Horrell Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter valued at $45,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on ABBV. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Raymond James boosted their price target on AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Truist Financial upped 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. Finally, William Blair upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.43.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total value of $3,716,756.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,855,698.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,375,512.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were 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 directly owns 55,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,855,698.90. 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 90 days. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV traded up $1.76 on Friday, hitting $166.42. 5,532,409 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,636,134. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.96 and a fifty-two week high of $182.89. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $294.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.58. The business’s fifty day moving average is $175.44 and its 200 day moving average is $160.10.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.03. AbbVie had a return on equity of 162.28% and a net margin of 8.95%. The business had revenue of $14.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.60 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.18 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 227.11%.

AbbVie 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.