Guardian Capital LP Has $13.32 Million Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Guardian Capital LP grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 74,960 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,087 shares during the period. Guardian Capital LP’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $13,320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in AbbVie by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,110 shares of the company’s stock valued at $553,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Peninsula Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $242,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. increased its position in AbbVie by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. now owns 12,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,159,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 9,842 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,749,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AbbVie news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $1,143,466.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total value of $12,359,426.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at $11,183,398.72. The trade was a 52.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,471 shares of company stock valued at $23,426,451 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ABBV shares. Guggenheim lifted their target price on AbbVie from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Erste Group Bank raised shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $210.00 target price for the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.41.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of ABBV opened at $193.55 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.58 and a fifty-two week high of $218.66. The business’s 50-day moving average is $196.60 and its 200-day moving average is $187.16. The company has a market capitalization of $342.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.06. AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. The firm had revenue of $13.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.31 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 279.15%.

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.