AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) is Kensington Investment Counsel LLC’s 9th Largest Position

Kensington Investment Counsel LLC grew its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,192 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,320 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up 2.4% of Kensington Investment Counsel LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $5,721,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. now owns 12,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,159,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 9,842 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,749,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Canopy Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Canopy Partners LLC now owns 4,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $860,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Doliver Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Doliver Advisors LP now owns 5,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $938,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $214.45 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $378.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.35, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $191.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $188.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.58 and a fifty-two week high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABBV has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total transaction of $6,070,159.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,985,223.60. The trade was a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total transaction of $3,853,399.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. This represents a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 54,639 shares of company stock valued at $11,067,025. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Company Profile

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.