Plancorp LLC Boosts Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Plancorp LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,555 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,250 shares during the period. Plancorp LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,942,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 38,974 shares in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ABBV. Daiwa America cut shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Leerink Partners raised shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.45.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value of $6,070,159.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,985,223.60. This represents a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. The trade was a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.9 %

ABBV opened at $209.98 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $194.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $188.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $370.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.49, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $153.58 and a twelve month high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.79 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 273.33%.

AbbVie Company 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.