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

PAX Financial Group LLC raised its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 13.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,139 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the quarter. PAX Financial Group LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $380,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its stake in AbbVie by 35.8% during the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in AbbVie by 41.3% in the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,448,000 after buying an additional 15,550 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in AbbVie by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 39,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,011,000 after buying an additional 3,439 shares during the last quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in AbbVie by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC now owns 42,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,590,000 after buying an additional 3,936 shares during the period. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 25,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,523,000 after acquiring an additional 3,654 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,429,199.90. The trade was a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total transaction of $12,359,426.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 53,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,183,398.72. This represents a 52.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 113,471 shares of company stock valued at $23,426,451. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Trading Down 7.5 %

ABBV opened at $186.58 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $200.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $189.24. The company has a market cap of $330.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.74, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $218.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.79 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 273.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ABBV. Guggenheim increased their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.45.

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.