WestHill Financial Advisors Inc. Increases Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

WestHill Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,942 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the period. WestHill Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $523,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Groupama Asset Managment grew its position in AbbVie by 40.3% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 38,974 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

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

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $196.36 on Wednesday. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.58 and a fifty-two week high of $207.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.65. The company’s 50-day moving average is $179.25 and its 200 day moving average is $186.06. The company has a market capitalization of $347.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a return on equity of 257.91% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.79 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 273.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Leerink Partners raised shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Argus upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.35.

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.