Hills Bank & Trust Co Boosts Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Hills Bank & Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,046 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 168 shares during the quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,194,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 4,140.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Burkett Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 61.2% in the 3rd quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 216 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $204.13 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.85 and a 52-week high of $207.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $360.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $194.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $179.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.81.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a return on equity of 226.99% and a net margin of 9.22%. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.95 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 215.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total value of $12,403,580.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at $83,299,645.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America upped their price objective on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup boosted their target price on AbbVie from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 target price for the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on AbbVie from $214.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.00.

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.