Blankinship & Foster LLC Takes $2.77 Million Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Blankinship & Foster LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 15,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,767,000. AbbVie accounts for approximately 0.7% of Blankinship & Foster LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dillon & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in AbbVie by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 6,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 30.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. now owns 12,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,159,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 5,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,041,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthstream Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. now owns 1,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $386,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABBV has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Leerink Partners upgraded AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.45.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,429,199.90. The trade was a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,439 shares of company stock valued at $11,377,057 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $214.55 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. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $215.66. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $187.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $187.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $378.75 billion, a PE ratio of 89.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.79 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 273.33%.

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.