Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc Buys 1,287 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc increased its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 23.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,804 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,287 shares during the quarter. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,209,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Groupama Asset Managment grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 40.3% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 38,974 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the third quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. raised its stake in AbbVie by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This trade 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 is available at the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV opened at $171.49 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $303.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.55, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.58. 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. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $175.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $184.75.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.83%. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 215.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 target price for the company. Guggenheim upped their price objective on AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on AbbVie from $228.00 to $208.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.50.

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.