AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Sold by Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC

Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,134 shares of the company’s stock after selling 59 shares during the quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,495,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $553,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Peninsula Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $242,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Physicians Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. now owns 12,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,159,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Connecticut Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,711 shares of the company’s stock worth $660,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of ABBV opened at $191.27 on Thursday. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.52 and a 12-month high of $218.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $337.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $183.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $187.32.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised their target price on AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen cut AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on AbbVie to $205.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Erste Group Bank raised AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total transaction of $12,359,426.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,183,398.72. The trade was a 52.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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.