Canal Capital Management LLC Increases Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Canal Capital Management LLC raised its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 8.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,758 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,198 shares during the quarter. Canal Capital Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $4,147,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in AbbVie by 89,097.0% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 29,203,106 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,719,514,000 after purchasing an additional 29,170,366 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,033,348,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in AbbVie by 29,922.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,032,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $899,186,000 after purchasing an additional 6,012,281 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in AbbVie by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 31,571,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,102,311,000 after purchasing an additional 4,785,277 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in AbbVie by 426.5% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,652,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $754,155,000 after purchasing an additional 3,768,579 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV stock opened at $170.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $301.01 billion, a PE ratio of 62.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $176.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $159.21. 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 52-week low of $130.96 and a 52-week high of $182.89.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.03. AbbVie had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 162.28%. The business had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.60 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 227.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on ABBV. William Blair upgraded AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. HSBC cut shares of AbbVie from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $167.00 to $156.00 in a report on Monday, December 18th. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $173.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, December 11th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.43.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total transaction of $24,572,458.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 519,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $92,020,679.73. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other AbbVie news, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total transaction of $24,572,458.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 519,099 shares in the company, valued at $92,020,679.73. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of AbbVie 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at $42,375,512.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

About AbbVie

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.