Crescent Grove Advisors LLC Buys 2,696 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Crescent Grove Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 54.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 7,690 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,696 shares during the quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,367,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of ABBV. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 40.3% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 38,974 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 100.0% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AbbVie Stock Performance

ABBV stock opened at $170.05 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $300.51 billion, a PE ratio of 59.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $175.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.77. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $153.58 and a 12-month high of $207.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. AbbVie’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.86%. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 227.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABBV has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $215.00 to $211.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Leerink Partners raised AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on AbbVie in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 target price for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.50.

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.