Pittenger & Anderson Inc. Boosts Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lifted its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 117.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,305 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 10,976 shares during the period. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $3,147,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ABBV. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 39.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter valued at about $45,000. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 459.7% during the third quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 347 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the period. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 240.0% during the 4th quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 340 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Finally, Naples Money Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at about $53,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV traded down $0.51 during trading on Thursday, hitting $167.29. 5,448,982 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,594,160. The company has a market cap of $296.21 billion, a PE ratio of 60.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.96 and a 12-month high of $182.89. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $175.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $160.62.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 162.28% and a net margin of 8.95%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.60 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.19 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 227.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on ABBV shares. William Blair raised AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Barclays increased their price objective on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $177.43.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total transaction of $9,184,047.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total transaction of $9,184,047.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Scott T. Reents sold 14,140 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.44, for a total value of $2,509,001.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,065 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,802,413.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.