GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. Buys New Shares in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 3,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $539,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 39.5% in the third quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 286 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Horrell Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 240.0% during the fourth quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Naples Money Management LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ABBV. Guggenheim increased their price target on AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Raymond James upped their price target on AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, William Blair raised shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total value of $9,184,047.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Scott T. Reents sold 14,140 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was 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 owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at $42,375,512.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:ABBV traded up $0.67 on Tuesday, reaching $163.40. 605,452 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,604,689. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.96 and a 1-year high of $182.89. 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $172.81 and its 200-day moving average is $161.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $289.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.61.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $12.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.93 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 11.02% and a return on equity of 165.18%. The firm’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.46 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.79%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.