Meridian Wealth Partners LLC Raises Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Meridian Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,715 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $731,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 3rd quarter valued at $201,000. Blue Fin Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 0.8% in the third quarter. Blue Fin Capital Inc. now owns 14,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,141,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. WestEnd Advisors LLC boosted its position in AbbVie by 29.9% in the 3rd quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 128,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,106,000 after purchasing an additional 29,506 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 26,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,005,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the period. Finally, Consolidated Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 32.7% during the 3rd quarter. Consolidated Investment Group LLC now owns 14,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,176,000 after purchasing an additional 3,600 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ABBV shares. Guggenheim raised their price objective on AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Barclays raised their target price 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. William Blair raised AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.43.

AbbVie Stock Down 4.6 %

NYSE ABBV traded down $7.67 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $159.62. 10,721,740 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,004,945. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02. The firm has a market cap of $282.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.37, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50 day moving average of $174.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $160.82. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $130.96 and a 52-week high of $182.89.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.31 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $11.93 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 162.28%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.46 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.88%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 183.98%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 5,144 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.65, for a total value of $908,687.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,233,546.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 5,144 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.65, for a total transaction of $908,687.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,233,546.95. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 9,891 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.39, for a total value of $1,754,564.49. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,844,323.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by 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.