Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC Raises Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,828 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $858,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Groupama Asset Managment grew its holdings in AbbVie by 40.3% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 38,974 shares in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. raised its stake in AbbVie by 100.0% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $191.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. 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 report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.35.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $202.03 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $207.32. The company has a market capitalization of $356.64 billion, a PE ratio of 84.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $180.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $186.29.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.79 EPS. Research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 273.33%.

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.