Machina Capital S.A.S. Buys New Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Machina Capital S.A.S. purchased a new position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 11,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,756,000. AbbVie comprises approximately 1.1% of Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 11,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,776,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 2,254 shares of the company’s stock valued at $349,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Avion Wealth raised its holdings in AbbVie by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 612 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. White Pine Capital LLC boosted its position in AbbVie by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. White Pine Capital LLC now owns 5,498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $852,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 18,125 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,809,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Guggenheim increased 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 lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. William Blair raised AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on AbbVie from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.31.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV traded down $0.18 on Tuesday, hitting $162.55. 5,151,751 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,632,423. The firm has a market capitalization of $287.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.31, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.76. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $130.96 and a 12 month high of $182.89. The business has a 50-day moving average of $172.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $161.51.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $12.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.93 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 165.18% and a net margin of 11.02%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.81%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 183.98%.

Insider Activity

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

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.