AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Purchased by Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 9.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 64,694 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,519 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $10,026,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 39.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 286 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Horrell Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the 3rd quarter worth about $45,000. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in AbbVie by 459.7% during the third quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bourgeon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 240.0% in the fourth quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 340 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the company’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 completion of 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total transaction of $3,716,756.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,855,698.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now 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 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003 in the last quarter. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABBV has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Barclays lowered their price target on AbbVie from $195.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. William Blair upgraded AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Guggenheim upped their target price on AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Three 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.31.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE ABBV traded down $1.06 during trading on Monday, hitting $162.73. 5,834,137 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,663,803. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $130.96 and a 12 month high of $182.89. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $172.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $161.51. The company has a market capitalization of $288.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.29, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.05. AbbVie had a return on equity of 165.18% and a net margin of 11.02%. The business had revenue of $12.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.93 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.29 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 183.98%.

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.