Bailard Inc. Boosts Holdings in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Bailard Inc. increased its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 24.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 56,246 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,893 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $12,852,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV now owns 5,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,337,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Weil Company Inc. boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 2.3% during the third quarter. Weil Company Inc. now owns 2,026 shares of the company’s stock valued at $469,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Hardin Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Hardin Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $759,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 473 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inlet Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.3% during the third quarter. Inlet Private Wealth LLC now owns 17,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,937,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABBV has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AbbVie from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $240.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Evercore dropped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $232.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $252.90.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other news, SVP David Ryan Purdue sold 5,230 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.56, for a total value of $1,221,518.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 2,654 shares in the company, valued at approximately $619,868.24. This represents a 66.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 22,381 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $5,147,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 38,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,771,510. This represents a 36.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE:ABBV opened at $202.81 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $212.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $220.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $358.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 99.91, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.32. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $176.57 and a one year high of $244.81.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.72 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 5.79% and a negative return on equity of 911.57%. The business’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.46 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 14.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be paid a $1.73 dividend. This represents a $6.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 340.89%.

AbbVie Profile

AbbVie is a global, research-driven biopharmaceutical company that was created as a spin-off from Abbott Laboratories in 2013 and is headquartered in North Chicago, Illinois. The company focuses on discovering, developing and commercializing therapies for complex and often chronic medical conditions. Its operations span research and development, manufacturing, regulatory affairs and commercialization, with an emphasis on bringing specialty medicines to market across multiple therapeutic areas.

AbbVie’s product portfolio and pipeline cover several major therapeutic categories, including immunology, oncology, neuroscience, virology and women’s health.