Welch Group LLC Raises Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Welch Group LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 364,516 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,317 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for 2.9% of Welch Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $64,228,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter worth $8,777,000. Czech National Bank raised its stake in AbbVie by 6.9% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 359,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,058,000 after acquiring an additional 23,320 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 28.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 36,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,112,000 after acquiring an additional 8,014 shares during the last quarter. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC now owns 12,256 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,420,000 after purchasing an additional 972 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co increased its position in AbbVie by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 39,966 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,892,000 after purchasing an additional 3,324 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ABBV shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of 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. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Five equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.35.

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE:ABBV opened at $190.20 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $336.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $153.58 and a twelve month high of $207.32. The company has a fifty day moving average of $176.57 and a 200-day moving average of $185.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released 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 return on equity of 257.91% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.79 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.26 EPS for the current year.

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.