Stillwater Capital Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Stillwater Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 90,816 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,018 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up approximately 2.0% of Stillwater Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Stillwater Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $16,138,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE ABBV opened at $171.49 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $175.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $184.75. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $207.32. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $303.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.55, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 215.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. The trade was a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ABBV. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on AbbVie to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on AbbVie from $228.00 to $208.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Five 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.50.

AbbVie 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.