United Community Bank Grows Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

United Community Bank grew its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,942 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the quarter. United Community Bank’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,056,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,190,951,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in AbbVie by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,875,401,000 after acquiring an additional 3,599,336 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in AbbVie by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,067,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,614,329,000 after acquiring an additional 1,267,685 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in AbbVie by 26,693.1% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,176,754 shares of the company’s stock worth $209,109,000 after acquiring an additional 1,172,362 shares during the period. Finally, Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth approximately $186,431,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price target on AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on AbbVie in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.45.

AbbVie Stock Up 1.8 %

NYSE:ABBV opened at $214.55 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $378.75 billion, a PE ratio of 89.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $187.63 and a 200-day moving average of $187.53. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $215.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 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 earned $2.79 EPS. Analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 273.33%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,338,401.36. This trade represents a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 56,439 shares of company stock worth $11,377,057. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.