Proficio Capital Partners LLC Buys 2,230 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 50.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,622 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,230 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,177,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB raised its position in AbbVie by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,147,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $424,014,000 after buying an additional 6,810 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 20.3% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 2,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $397,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in AbbVie by 12.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,487,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,204,000 after purchasing an additional 273,078 shares in the last quarter. United Bank bought a new position in AbbVie in the third quarter valued at $217,000. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter valued at $8,169,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $211.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $193.80 and a 200-day moving average of $188.64. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $218.66. The stock has a market cap of $373.44 billion, a PE ratio of 88.14, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 273.33%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value of $6,070,159.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,985,223.60. The trade was a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total transaction 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ABBV shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partners upgraded AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.45.

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.