Lincoln National Corp Grows Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Lincoln National Corp increased its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 80,314 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,354 shares during the period. Lincoln National Corp’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $12,446,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 39.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Horrell Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 3rd quarter valued at $45,000. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 459.7% in the 3rd quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bourgeon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 240.0% in the 4th quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,949 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.79, for a total transaction of $10,539,491.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 60,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,895,641.39. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other AbbVie news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total transaction of $3,716,756.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,855,698.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,949 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.79, for a total transaction of $10,539,491.71. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 60,941 shares in the company, valued at $10,895,641.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABBV has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.31.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $162.55. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,215,305 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,659,146. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.96 and a 1-year high of $182.89. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $172.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $161.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market cap of $287.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.61.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.05. AbbVie had a net margin of 11.02% and a return on equity of 165.18%. The business had revenue of $12.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.46 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 183.98%.

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.