Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. Acquires 354 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. raised its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 35,530 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the period. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $5,506,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 11,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,776,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 2,254 shares of the company’s stock valued at $349,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Avion Wealth raised its position in AbbVie by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. White Pine Capital LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. White Pine Capital LLC now owns 5,498 shares of the company’s stock worth $852,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 18,125 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,809,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Truist Financial raised their target price on AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, William Blair raised shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.31.

Insider Activity

In other AbbVie news, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total value of $24,572,458.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 519,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,020,679.73. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO Scott T. Reents sold 14,140 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.44, for a total transaction of $2,509,001.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,802,413.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total value of $24,572,458.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 519,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,020,679.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of ABBV traded up $1.12 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $162.64. The company had a trading volume of 5,430,465 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,662,247. The stock has a market cap of $287.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $174.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $161.00. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.96 and a fifty-two week high of $182.89.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.05. AbbVie had a return on equity of 165.18% and a net margin of 11.02%. The business had revenue of $12.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.46 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.98%.

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.