Hickory Point Bank & Trust Acquires New Shares in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Hickory Point Bank & Trust bought a new position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in AbbVie by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,072,078 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,754,908,000 after buying an additional 1,424,237 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in AbbVie by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 37,144,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,586,948,000 after acquiring an additional 983,888 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in AbbVie by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 33,983,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,038,898,000 after acquiring an additional 778,126 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,875,401,000 after purchasing an additional 3,599,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at $4,459,385,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $205.00 price target (down from $210.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $212.19.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV stock opened at $189.89 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $163.52 and a one year high of $218.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $184.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $187.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $335.42 billion, a PE ratio of 79.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.50. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.06. AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. The business had revenue of $13.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.31 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $12,359,426.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,183,398.72. This trade represents a 52.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.