AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Acquired by Sargent Investment Group LLC

Sargent Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 8,569 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 625 shares during the period. Sargent Investment Group LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,328,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the third quarter valued at $45,000. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 459.7% during the 3rd quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 347 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 240.0% in the 4th quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 340 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Naples Money Management LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at about $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Down 4.6 %

ABBV traded down $7.67 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $159.62. 10,721,740 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,004,945. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.96 and a fifty-two week high of $182.89. The company has a market cap of $282.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.37, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $174.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $160.82.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.05. AbbVie had a return on equity of 162.28% and a net margin of 8.95%. The company had revenue of $12.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 183.98%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, CFO Scott T. Reents sold 14,140 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.44, for a total value of $2,509,001.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,802,413.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Scott T. Reents sold 14,140 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.44, for a total value of $2,509,001.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,065 shares in the company, valued at $4,802,413.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total value of $24,572,458.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 519,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $92,020,679.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABBV has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Barclays increased their target price on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. William Blair raised AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price objective on AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.43.

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.