VSM Wealth Advisory LLC Acquires New Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $172,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Brooklyn FI LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,083,000. Trillium Asset Management LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $473,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Enhancing Capital LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $355,000. Boston Partners increased its position in AbbVie by 35.9% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,687,472 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,008,867,000 after purchasing an additional 1,503,875 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 217,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,712,000 after purchasing an additional 15,976 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was 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 directly owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,985,223.60. The trade was a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at $2,338,401.36. The trade was a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABBV has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased 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. Leerink Partners raised shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Five research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.45.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $213.80 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $192.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $188.31. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $153.58 and a 1-year high of $218.66. The stock has a market cap of $377.43 billion, a PE ratio of 89.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.79 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 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.