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

Key Points

• Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 8.5% in Q4, buying 7,169 shares to hold 91,663 shares worth about $20.94 million.
• AbbVie posted $2.65 EPS for the quarter (beating estimates) and $15 billion in revenue, up 12.4% year‑over‑year, with sell‑side analysts forecasting roughly 14.3 EPS for the fiscal year and a consensus target of $252.90.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.73 (annualized $6.92, ≈3.4% yield) despite a high payout ratio (~340.9%); insiders have also sold shares recently while institutional investors own about 70.2% of the stock.

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and 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 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in AbbVie by 17.0% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 1,044,690 shares of the company's stock worth $241,888,000 after purchasing an additional 151,644 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 177,747,261 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,155,601,000 after buying an additional 448,554 shares during the period. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 25.5% during the 3rd quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 401,760 shares of the company's stock valued at $93,024,000 after buying an additional 81,625 shares during the period. Channing Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 55,647 shares of the company's stock worth $12,885,000 after buying an additional 5,302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 32,752 shares of the company's stock worth $7,484,000 after buying an additional 5,427 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $205.14 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $213.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $221.19. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $176.57 and a 12-month high of $244.81. The company has a market cap of $362.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 101.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.06. AbbVie had a negative return on equity of 911.57% and a net margin of 5.79%.The company had revenue of $15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.46 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 14.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be issued a $1.73 dividend. This represents a $6.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 15th. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio is currently 340.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on AbbVie from $270.00 to $278.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $260.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price objective on AbbVie from $235.00 to $230.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $249.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $252.90.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other news, SVP David Ryan Purdue sold 5,230 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.56, for a total value of $1,221,518.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 2,654 shares in the company, valued at approximately $619,868.24. This represents a 66.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 22,381 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $5,147,630.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly 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. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AbbVie Company 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.

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