Kovack Advisors Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 8.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 16,948 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,379 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $3,012,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new position in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $8,777,000. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in AbbVie by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,147,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $424,014,000 after acquiring an additional 6,810 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie by 20.3% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 2,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $397,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Old Port Advisors purchased a new position in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $222,000. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in AbbVie by 131.4% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,253,000 after acquiring an additional 3,603 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ABBV. Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Five 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,202,751.92. The trade was a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. The trade was a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $203.08 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $358.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company has a fifty day moving average of $183.08 and a 200 day moving average of $186.72. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.58 and a fifty-two week high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share 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 company posted $2.79 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 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.