AbbVie Inc. $ABBV Shares Sold by CENTRAL TRUST Co

CENTRAL TRUST Co reduced its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 211,905 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,290 shares during the quarter. AbbVie comprises 1.0% of CENTRAL TRUST Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $55,432,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Corient Private Wealth LP purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the second quarter worth $559,736,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the second quarter worth $2,905,952,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the second quarter valued at $1,560,354,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the second quarter valued at $817,473,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the second quarter valued at $655,268,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $294.93 on Thursday. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $190.75 and a 1 year high of $302.93. The firm has a market cap of $521.33 billion, a PE ratio of 50.76, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.20. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $274.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $240.18.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 30th. The company reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $17.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.32 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 15.67% and a negative return on equity of 450.55%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.86 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 13.98 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 16th. Investors of record on Friday, January 15th will be given a $1.82 dividend. This represents a $7.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.73. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 119.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 32,710 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $8,177,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 74,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,607,500. This represents a 30.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on AbbVie from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Citigroup raised their target price on AbbVie from $230.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their target price on AbbVie from $218.00 to $247.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wolfe Research upgraded AbbVie from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $235.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $244.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $297.46.

AbbVie Company Profile

AbbVie is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and markets medicines for a range of serious health conditions. Its research and product portfolio spans immunology, oncology, neuroscience and other therapeutic areas. Key products include the immunology medicines Skyrizi and Rinvoq, cancer treatments such as Imbruvica and Venclexta, and neuroscience therapies including Botox and Vraylar. Through its Allergan acquisition, AbbVie also offers aesthetics products such as Botox Cosmetic and Juvéderm.