Vista Capital Partners Inc. Buys 762 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Vista Capital Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 64.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,936 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 762 shares during the quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $344,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Groupama Asset Managment raised its stake in AbbVie by 40.3% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 38,974 shares in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. raised its stake in AbbVie by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABBV has been the subject of several analyst reports. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. 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 report on Wednesday, November 13th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.35.

AbbVie Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $196.36 on Wednesday. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $207.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $347.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.65. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $179.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $186.06.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a return on equity of 257.91% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.79 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.32 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 273.33%.

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.