Spartan Planning & Wealth Management Invests $256,000 in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Spartan Planning & Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ABBV. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Groupama Asset Managment increased its position in AbbVie by 40.3% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 38,974 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 4,140.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the period. Finally, Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the third quarter valued at about $39,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Performance

ABBV traded down $0.70 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $179.40. 2,426,023 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,286,292. The company’s 50-day moving average is $180.20 and its 200 day moving average is $184.36. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $207.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $317.02 billion, a PE ratio of 62.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.96 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 227.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on ABBV. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Leerink Partners upgraded AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was 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 $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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.