Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. $ABBV

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 91,663 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,169 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $20,944,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Chelsea Counsel Co. acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Westend Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX bought a new position in AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. WestEnd Advisors LLC grew its holdings in AbbVie by 160.4% during the 4th quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 138 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caitlin John LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE ABBV opened at $205.14 on Thursday. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $176.57 and a one year high of $244.81. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $213.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $221.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $362.72 billion, a PE ratio of 101.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.06. AbbVie had a net margin of 5.79% and a negative return on equity of 911.57%. The firm had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.72 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.46 earnings per share. AbbVie’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be issued a $1.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 340.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ABBV shares. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of AbbVie from $299.00 to $294.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $223.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of AbbVie in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $252.90.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, SVP David Ryan Purdue sold 5,230 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.56, for a total transaction of $1,221,518.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 2,654 shares in the company, valued at $619,868.24. The trade was a 66.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 22,381 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $5,147,630.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 38,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,771,510. The trade was a 36.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Profile

AbbVie is a global, research-driven biopharmaceutical company that was created as a spin-off from Abbott Laboratories in 2013 and is headquartered in North Chicago, Illinois. The company focuses on discovering, developing and commercializing therapies for complex and often chronic medical conditions. Its operations span research and development, manufacturing, regulatory affairs and commercialization, with an emphasis on bringing specialty medicines to market across multiple therapeutic areas.

AbbVie’s product portfolio and pipeline cover several major therapeutic categories, including immunology, oncology, neuroscience, virology and women’s health.