AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Acquired by First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 29.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,551 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,528 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $4,424,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ABBV. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 63,538 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,847,000 after buying an additional 1,936 shares during the period. Riverpoint Wealth Management Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Riverpoint Wealth Management Holdings LLC now owns 7,968 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,235,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Searle & CO. boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Searle & CO. now owns 46,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,244,000 after buying an additional 2,300 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 42.6% in the fourth quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 19,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,043,000 after buying an additional 5,869 shares during the period. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock traded down $0.92 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $161.72. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,174,200 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,657,122. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.87. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $174.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $161.10. The firm has a market cap of $286.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $130.96 and a one year high of $182.89.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $12.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.93 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 165.18% and a net margin of 11.02%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.27 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.83%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is 183.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related 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 transaction of $9,184,047.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at $42,375,512.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related 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 transaction of $9,184,047.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at $42,375,512.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Scott T. Reents sold 14,140 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.44, for a total value of $2,509,001.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,065 shares in the company, valued at $4,802,413.60. 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 three months. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.