AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Sold by Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP

Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP lessened its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,742 shares of the company’s stock after selling 193 shares during the period. Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $580,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC grew its holdings in AbbVie by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 11,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,776,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 2,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $349,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Avion Wealth lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust grew its holdings in AbbVie by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 18,125 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,809,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hudock Inc. increased its position in AbbVie by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Hudock Inc. now owns 2,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $434,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Down 1.0 %

ABBV traded down $1.71 on Wednesday, reaching $167.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,074,754 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,594,750. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.76. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.96 and a 1 year high of $182.89. The business’s 50 day moving average is $175.26 and its 200 day moving average is $160.57. The stock has a market cap of $297.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.02 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 162.28% and a net margin of 8.95%. The business’s revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.60 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.69%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 227.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on ABBV shares. William Blair upgraded AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Three equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $177.43.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 5,144 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.65, for a total transaction of $908,687.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,233,546.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total transaction of $24,572,458.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 519,099 shares in the company, valued at $92,020,679.73. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 5,144 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.65, for a total value of $908,687.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,233,546.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003 over the last ninety days. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AbbVie Company 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.