Matrix Trust Co Decreases Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Matrix Trust Co reduced its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,214 shares of the company’s stock after selling 88 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up approximately 0.5% of Matrix Trust Co’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Matrix Trust Co’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,048,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in AbbVie by 29,922.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,032,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $899,186,000 after purchasing an additional 6,012,281 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth $499,955,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in AbbVie by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,747,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,961,001,000 after purchasing an additional 1,450,089 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in AbbVie by 201.7% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,143,910 shares of the company’s stock worth $332,242,000 after purchasing an additional 1,433,236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in AbbVie by 34.6% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,397,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $655,463,000 after purchasing an additional 1,130,638 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,949 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.79, for a total transaction of $10,539,491.71. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 60,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,895,641.39. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total value of $9,184,047.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,949 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.79, for a total transaction of $10,539,491.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 60,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,895,641.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Down 4.6 %

AbbVie stock traded down $7.67 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $159.62. The stock had a trading volume of 10,721,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,004,945. The company has a market capitalization of $282.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.47, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $174.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $160.74. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $130.96 and a one year high of $182.89. 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 (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $12.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.93 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 162.28%. AbbVie’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.46 EPS. On average, analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 227.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. William Blair raised shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Truist Financial upped their target price 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. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $177.43.

About AbbVie

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.