Agate Pass Investment Management LLC Raises Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Agate Pass Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 8.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 64,956 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,314 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up about 5.2% of Agate Pass Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $11,543,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at $999,000. Saturna Capital Corp grew its stake in AbbVie by 486.1% during the 3rd quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 676,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,531,000 after acquiring an additional 560,808 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 41.3% in the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,448,000 after purchasing an additional 15,550 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 39,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,011,000 after purchasing an additional 3,439 shares during the period. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 23.5% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 56,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,169,000 after purchasing an additional 10,768 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,751.92. The trade was a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE:ABBV traded up $1.13 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $176.30. 1,518,319 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,569,619. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $311.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $178.47 and a 200 day moving average of $184.55. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $153.58 and a twelve month high of $207.32.

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

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.72%. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 227.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on ABBV. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 target price for the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on AbbVie to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Leerink Partners raised AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.50.

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.