North Star Asset Management Inc. Acquires 1,828 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

North Star Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 152,455 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,828 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises 1.2% of North Star Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. North Star Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $23,626,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,747,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,961,001,000 after acquiring an additional 1,450,089 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in AbbVie by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,175,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,796,085,000 after purchasing an additional 914,485 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in AbbVie by 89,097.0% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 29,203,106 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,719,514,000 after purchasing an additional 29,170,366 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 21,936,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,269,822,000 after acquiring an additional 491,391 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 20,356,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,034,276,000 after acquiring an additional 352,817 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of ABBV stock traded up $1.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $166.41. 5,532,492 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,932,933. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $175.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $160.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $294.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.96 and a 12-month high of $182.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.87.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.03. AbbVie had a return on equity of 162.28% and a net margin of 8.95%. The firm had revenue of $14.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.60 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.16 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 227.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AbbVie news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total value of $3,716,756.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,855,698.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total transaction of $3,716,756.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,855,698.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Scott T. Reents sold 14,140 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.44, for a total transaction of $2,509,001.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,802,413.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003 over the last quarter. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ABBV. Truist Financial lifted their price target on AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays lifted their price target on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.43.

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.