MSH Capital Advisors LLC Takes $1.58 Million Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

MSH Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 8,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,578,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. EnRich Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 196.4% in the fourth quarter. EnRich Financial Partners LLC now owns 166 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of ABBV opened at $176.84 on Wednesday. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $218.66. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $199.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $188.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $312.82 billion, a PE ratio of 73.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.79 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 273.33%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total transaction of $12,359,426.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at $11,183,398.72. This represents a 52.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total transaction of $6,070,159.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,985,223.60. This trade represents a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Erste Group Bank raised shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $194.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.71.

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.