ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC Acquires 905 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 14.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,273 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 905 shares during the quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,292,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 4,140.0% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Financial & Tax Architects LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 6.1% during the second quarter. Financial & Tax Architects LLC now owns 37,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,441,000 after buying an additional 2,146 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in AbbVie by 42.0% in the second quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 18,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,209,000 after buying an additional 5,533 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 3.2% during the second quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $860,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 53.4% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 486,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,363,000 after buying an additional 169,211 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Down 2.4 %

AbbVie stock opened at $171.32 on Thursday. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.58 and a fifty-two week high of $207.32. The company has a market cap of $302.75 billion, a PE ratio of 59.49, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.65. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $177.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $184.63.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. AbbVie’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.96 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 227.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on ABBV shares. Guggenheim boosted their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $191.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Leerink Partners raised shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of AbbVie from $228.00 to $208.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Five research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.50.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AbbVie Company 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.