Cox Capital Mgt LLC Increases Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Cox Capital Mgt LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV – Get Rating) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,881 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 663 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for 2.1% of Cox Capital Mgt LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Cox Capital Mgt LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $3,213,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ABBV. O Dell Group LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 108.7% in the third quarter. O Dell Group LLC now owns 192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group grew its position in AbbVie by 85.3% during the third quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 202 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Align Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Clear Perspectives Financial Planning LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on AbbVie from $169.00 to $167.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 6th. Guggenheim began coverage on AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, February 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $172.00 price target for the company. Piper Jaffray Companies boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $157.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 10th. Wolfe Research cut AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 22nd. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $157.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 9th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $161.12.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, Director Roxanne S. Austin sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.50, for a total transaction of $1,505,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 40,705 shares in the company, valued at $6,126,102.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.53, for a total transaction of $3,738,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 233,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,871,592.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Roxanne S. Austin sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.50, for a total value of $1,505,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 40,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,126,102.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 159,746 shares of company stock worth $24,267,450 over the last quarter. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:ABBV traded down $1.08 during trading on Friday, hitting $154.22. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 42,756,434 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,742,032. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.96. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $134.09 and a fifty-two week high of $175.91. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $151.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $150.82. The company has a market capitalization of $272.88 billion, a PE ratio of 23.33, a PEG ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.62.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 9th. The company reported $3.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.54 by $0.06. AbbVie had a return on equity of 154.52% and a net margin of 20.39%. The firm had revenue of $15.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.31 earnings per share. AbbVie’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 11 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 13th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 89.56%.

AbbVie Company Profile

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AbbVie, Inc is a research-based biopharmaceutical company, which engages in the development and sale of pharmaceutical products. It focuses on treating conditions such as chronic autoimmune diseases in rheumatology, gastroenterology, and dermatology, oncology, including blood cancers, virology, hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), neurological disorders, such as Parkinson’s, metabolic, comprising thyroid disease and complications associated with cystic fibrosis, pain associated with endometriosis, and other serious health conditions.