Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC Acquires 1,307 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC increased its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 66,490 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,307 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises 1.7% of Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $11,815,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in AbbVie by 100.0% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ABBV shares. Piper Sandler increased 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. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Daiwa Capital Markets cut AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Wolfe Research began coverage on AbbVie in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.35.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $205.06 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $362.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.44, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $153.58 and a 1 year high of $207.32. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $183.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $186.85.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.79 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

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.