Marks Group Wealth Management Inc Increases Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,254 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $349,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in AbbVie by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 23,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,480,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Torray Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Torray Investment Partners LLC now owns 21,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,159,000 after purchasing an additional 2,446 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. boosted its position in AbbVie by 21.3% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 26,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,936,000 after buying an additional 4,633 shares during the last quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in AbbVie by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $413,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 5.4% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 118,795 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,709,000 after purchasing an additional 6,139 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ABBV shares. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. William Blair upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given 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 a consensus price target of $177.43.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of ABBV opened at $169.34 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $175.26 and a 200-day moving average of $160.57. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $130.96 and a one year high of $182.89. The company has a market cap of $299.84 billion, a PE ratio of 62.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.03. AbbVie had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 162.28%. The company had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.60 EPS. AbbVie’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.16 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 227.11%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total transaction of $9,184,047.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 243,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 13,753 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.51, for a total value of $2,441,295.03. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,173 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,000,989.23. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total transaction of $9,184,047.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at $42,375,512.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.