Leavell Investment Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Leavell Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 79,674 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 629 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $14,158,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ABBV. GGM Financials LLC boosted its position in AbbVie by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. GGM Financials LLC now owns 6,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Dillon & Associates Inc. boosted its position in AbbVie by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 6,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its position in AbbVie by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 7,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,383,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. First Bancorp Inc ME boosted its position in AbbVie by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. First Bancorp Inc ME now owns 2,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $442,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, Carr Financial Group Corp boosted its position in AbbVie by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 5,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,041,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.8 %

ABBV stock opened at $191.81 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $177.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $185.81. The company has a market capitalization of $338.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.54. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $153.58 and a 12 month high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 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 257.91%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the subject of several recent research reports. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Daiwa America lowered shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Argus upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.35.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.