SFE Investment Counsel Lowers Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

SFE Investment Counsel lowered its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,269 shares of the company’s stock after selling 400 shares during the quarter. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $5,001,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% in the third quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 23,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,480,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Torray Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Torray Investment Partners LLC now owns 21,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,159,000 after buying an additional 2,446 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 21.3% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 26,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,936,000 after buying an additional 4,633 shares during the last quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $413,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 118,795 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,709,000 after buying an additional 6,139 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE ABBV traded up $0.50 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $164.75. The company had a trading volume of 2,814,380 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,613,529. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.96 and a fifty-two week high of $182.89. The company has a market capitalization of $291.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $175.79 and its 200 day moving average is $159.94.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.60 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.76%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 227.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total value of $3,716,756.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,855,698.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total transaction of $9,184,047.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total transaction of $3,716,756.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,903 shares in the company, valued at $9,855,698.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on ABBV shares. Raymond James lifted their target price on AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Barclays lifted their target price on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, William Blair upgraded AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.43.

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.