Wedbush Securities Inc. Acquires 198 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 90,232 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for approximately 0.6% of Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $16,034,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $690,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 7,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,285,000 after buying an additional 1,054 shares in the last quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc. increased its holdings in AbbVie by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc. now owns 90,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,034,000 after buying an additional 7,771 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC raised its position in AbbVie by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 953,889 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,506,000 after acquiring an additional 18,294 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Bank Ltd. lifted its stake in AbbVie by 340.0% in the fourth quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. now owns 660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,000 after acquiring an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Trading Down 7.5 %

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $186.58 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $200.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $189.24. The company has a market capitalization of $330.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.74, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $153.58 and a 12-month high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.79 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 273.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABBV has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total transaction of $6,070,159.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,985,223.60. The trade was a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $1,143,466.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. This trade represents a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 113,471 shares of company stock valued at $23,426,451. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AbbVie 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.