Ballast Inc. Has $482,000 Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Ballast Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 77.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,110 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,356 shares during the period. Ballast Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $482,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Goepper Burkhardt LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Goepper Burkhardt LLC now owns 3,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $567,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Syntax Advisors LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 4.2% in the second quarter. Syntax Advisors LLC now owns 1,667 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust lifted its stake in AbbVie by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 18,125 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,809,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 3.9% in the third quarter. Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Finally, Founders Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 0.3% in the third quarter. Founders Capital Management LLC now owns 22,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,417,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

ABBV opened at $181.97 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.96 and a 12-month high of $182.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $174.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $157.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $322.21 billion, a PE ratio of 66.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.03. AbbVie had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 162.28%. The company had revenue of $14.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.60 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.15 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid 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 yield of 3.41%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 227.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on ABBV shares. HSBC lowered shares of AbbVie from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $167.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Monday, December 18th. Raymond James increased their price target 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. William Blair raised shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Four equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $177.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction 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 owns 243,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other AbbVie news, CFO Scott T. Reents sold 14,140 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.44, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $9,184,047.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 243,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,375,512.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003 in the last 90 days. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.