Altrius Capital Management Inc Grows Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Altrius Capital Management Inc boosted its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,130 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the period. Altrius Capital Management Inc’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $3,585,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 29,922.3% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,032,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $899,186,000 after acquiring an additional 6,012,281 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at about $499,955,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in AbbVie by 0.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,747,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,961,001,000 after purchasing an additional 1,450,089 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in AbbVie by 201.7% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,143,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $332,242,000 after purchasing an additional 1,433,236 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in AbbVie by 34.6% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,397,309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $655,463,000 after purchasing an additional 1,130,638 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV traded up $1.90 during trading on Monday, hitting $161.52. The company had a trading volume of 6,219,075 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,665,001. The company has a market cap of $286.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.93, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $130.96 and a 52 week high of $182.89. The business’s 50-day moving average is $174.59 and its 200 day moving average is $160.90. 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 announced its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.05. AbbVie had a net margin of 11.02% and a return on equity of 165.18%. The company had revenue of $12.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.46 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 183.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on ABBV. Raymond James raised their price objective on AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. William Blair raised AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on AbbVie from $195.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.31.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total value 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 $9,855,698.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other AbbVie news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,855,698.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total transaction of $9,184,047.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 243,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.