Sunbelt Securities Inc. Sells 6,013 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. lessened its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 12.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 40,482 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,013 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises 0.8% of Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $8,482,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. EnRich Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 196.4% in the 4th quarter. EnRich Financial Partners LLC now owns 166 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH increased its stake in AbbVie by 197.6% in the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 179,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 119,141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $194.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Bank of America lifted their target price on AbbVie to $204.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased 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. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.29.

AbbVie Price Performance

AbbVie stock opened at $181.89 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $321.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.40, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.50. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $163.52 and a one year high of $218.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $186.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $187.92.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $13.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.91 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 412.03% and a net margin of 7.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.31 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.61%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 279.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.