Hengehold Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Hengehold Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,483 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Hengehold Capital Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $4,706,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $919,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. FCG Investment Co grew its position in AbbVie by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. FCG Investment Co now owns 12,208 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,169,000 after buying an additional 557 shares during the period. Veracity Capital LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 4,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $832,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC raised its position in AbbVie by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 12,541 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,229,000 after acquiring an additional 1,337 shares during the period. Finally, Seros Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth $214,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on ABBV. Barclays upped their price objective on AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.50.

Insider Activity

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

AbbVie Stock Performance

AbbVie stock opened at $170.05 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $175.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. The company has a market cap of $300.51 billion, a PE ratio of 59.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $153.58 and a twelve month high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.95 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.86%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 227.78%.

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.