Capital Analysts LLC Lowers Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Capital Analysts LLC decreased its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,914 shares of the company’s stock after selling 362 shares during the period. Capital Analysts LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $761,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of ABBV. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. KB Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the 1st quarter valued at $45,000. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC raised its position in AbbVie by 39.5% during the third 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $162.54 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $287.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $176.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $159.91. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.96 and a 1 year high of $182.89.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted 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 return on equity of 162.28% and a net margin of 8.95%. The company had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.60 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.11 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 227.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on ABBV shares. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Barclays increased their price objective on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.43.

Insider Activity

In other AbbVie news, CFO Scott T. Reents sold 14,140 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.44, for a total transaction of $2,509,001.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,065 shares in the company, valued at $4,802,413.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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, COO Robert A. Michael sold 68,879 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.45, for a total transaction of $12,153,699.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 98,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,405,910.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003. 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.