VELA Investment Management LLC Raises Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

VELA Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,667 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 914 shares during the period. AbbVie makes up about 1.0% of VELA Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. VELA Investment Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,738,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Retirement Income Solutions Inc purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 1st quarter worth about $204,000. Ergoteles LLC raised its stake in AbbVie by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 5,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $909,000 after purchasing an additional 847 shares during the last quarter. First Western Trust Bank acquired a new position in AbbVie in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,150,000. Wsfs Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie in the 1st quarter valued at about $562,000. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP raised its stake in AbbVie by 80.4% in the 1st quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 75,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,242,000 after purchasing an additional 33,661 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE ABBV traded down $0.61 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $161.67. The company had a trading volume of 5,433,488 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,675,829. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.96 and a fifty-two week high of $182.89. The firm has a market cap of $286.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $176.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $159.75.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.03. AbbVie had a return on equity of 162.28% and a net margin of 8.95%. The firm had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.60 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.11 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given 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 3.83%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 227.11%.

Insider Activity

In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total value of $9,184,047.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at $42,375,512.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other AbbVie news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,949 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.79, for a total transaction of $10,539,491.71. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 60,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,895,641.39. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at $42,375,512.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003 in the last three months. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ABBV shares. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. William Blair raised shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $177.43.

AbbVie 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.