Proficio Capital Partners LLC Acquires 2,230 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 50.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,622 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,230 shares during the quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,177,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Physicians Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in AbbVie by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. now owns 12,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,159,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 9,842 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,749,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Canopy Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Canopy Partners LLC now owns 4,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $860,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Doliver Advisors LP grew its position in AbbVie by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Doliver Advisors LP now owns 5,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $938,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Helen Stephens Group LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Helen Stephens Group LLC now owns 1,369 shares of the company’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial boosted their price target on AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.45.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $211.54 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The firm has a market cap of $373.44 billion, a PE ratio of 88.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $193.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $188.64. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $153.58 and a 12-month high of $218.66.

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 296.28% 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 forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 273.33%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total transaction of $6,070,159.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,985,223.60. This trade represents a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025 over the last quarter. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.