Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC Purchases 100 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,538 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $548,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,747,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,961,001,000 after purchasing an additional 1,450,089 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in AbbVie by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,175,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,796,085,000 after acquiring an additional 914,485 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in AbbVie by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 21,936,279 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,269,822,000 after purchasing an additional 491,391 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in AbbVie by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 20,356,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,034,276,000 after purchasing an additional 352,817 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.4% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 14,066,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,098,436,000 after buying an additional 199,833 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Stock Down 4.6 %

ABBV stock traded down $7.67 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $159.62. 10,721,740 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,004,945. The company has a market cap of $282.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $174.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $160.74. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $130.96 and a 52 week high of $182.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.05. AbbVie had a return on equity of 162.28% and a net margin of 8.95%. The firm had revenue of $12.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.46 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 227.11%.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total transaction of $3,716,756.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,855,698.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,375,512.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on ABBV shares. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Raymond James lifted 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. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, William Blair upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.43.

AbbVie Company Profile

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.