Wedmont Private Capital Buys 3,654 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Wedmont Private Capital lifted its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 16.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,822 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,654 shares during the quarter. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $4,523,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter valued at $999,000. Saturna Capital Corp grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 486.1% in the 3rd quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 676,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,531,000 after buying an additional 560,808 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 41.3% in the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,448,000 after buying an additional 15,550 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 39,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,011,000 after buying an additional 3,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 23.5% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 56,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,169,000 after acquiring an additional 10,768 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Up 1.3 %

AbbVie stock traded up $2.25 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $177.42. The stock had a trading volume of 2,026,118 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,639,041. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $207.32. The company has a market cap of $313.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.60, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.58. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $178.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.55.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.96 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.70%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 227.78%.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ABBV. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $191.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Daiwa America cut AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.50.

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.