Cetera Investment Advisers Grows Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 623,679 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,254 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in AbbVie were worth $110,828,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. EnRich Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in AbbVie by 196.4% during the 4th quarter. EnRich Financial Partners LLC now owns 166 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. This trade represents a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the business’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 transaction of $3,853,399.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. This represents a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 113,471 shares of company stock valued at $23,426,451. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on ABBV. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on AbbVie from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Erste Group Bank upgraded AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.41.

AbbVie Stock Down 1.2 %

ABBV opened at $196.04 on Tuesday. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $153.58 and a 12 month high of $218.66. The business has a 50-day moving average of $196.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $187.27. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $346.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.56.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $13.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.91 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. AbbVie’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.31 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 279.15%.

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.