Driehaus Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Driehaus Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 3,051 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $542,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 24.1% during the fourth quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 881 shares of the company's stock worth $156,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the period. Eagle Global Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Global Advisors LLC now owns 81,322 shares of the company's stock worth $14,451,000 after buying an additional 14,800 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 105,038 shares of the company's stock worth $18,665,000 after buying an additional 4,691 shares during the period. Collar Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,267,000. Finally, Concorde Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Concorde Financial Corp now owns 32,897 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,846,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock traded up $5.25 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $189.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,791,705 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,159,982. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $194.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $187.21. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $218.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $335.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.56.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $13.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.91 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. The firm's revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.31 EPS. On average, analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. AbbVie's payout ratio is presently 279.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of AbbVie to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of AbbVie from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.41.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. The trade was a 20.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total transaction of $12,359,426.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,234 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,183,398.72. The trade was a 52.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 113,471 shares of company stock valued at $23,426,451. Company 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.