Ellis Investment Partners LLC Buys 422 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Ellis Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 5.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,672 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 422 shares during the period. Ellis Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,607,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crestline Management LP grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 438.4% in the fourth quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 35,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,275,000 after purchasing an additional 28,753 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,367,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,664,489,000 after purchasing an additional 108,993 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 35.8% in the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 971,893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,705,000 after purchasing an additional 125,568 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weaver Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 3.9% in the first quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 8,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,727,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE:ABBV opened at $185.16 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $163.52 and a 1 year high of $218.66. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $185.19 and a 200-day moving average of $187.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $327.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.50.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.06. AbbVie had a net margin of 7.31% and a return on equity of 412.03%. The company had revenue of $13.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.31 earnings per share. AbbVie’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.54%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 279.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total value of $12,359,426.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at $11,183,398.72. The trade was a 52.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI raised their price target on AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $194.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $210.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.29.

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.