AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Holdings Raised by Kensington Investment Counsel LLC

Kensington Investment Counsel LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,192 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,320 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for approximately 2.4% of Kensington Investment Counsel LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $5,721,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. now owns 12,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,159,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 9,842 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,749,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Canopy Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Canopy Partners LLC now owns 4,356 shares of the company’s stock worth $860,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Doliver Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Doliver Advisors LP now owns 5,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $938,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Performance

AbbVie stock opened at $214.45 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $191.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $188.18. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $153.58 and a 1-year high of $218.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $378.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.79 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.06%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total transaction of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. This trade represents a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total transaction of $6,070,159.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,985,223.60. The trade was a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 54,639 shares of company stock valued at $11,067,025. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Leerink Partners upgraded 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.45.

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.