Sheets Smith Wealth Management Has $2.44 Million Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Sheets Smith Wealth Management cut its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,749 shares of the company’s stock after selling 502 shares during the quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,441,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 39.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 286 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Horrell Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth $45,000. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in AbbVie by 459.7% in the 3rd quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 347 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bourgeon Capital Management LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 240.0% in the 4th quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 340 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV traded up $2.98 during trading on Friday, reaching $163.79. The company had a trading volume of 5,850,102 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,457,836. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $130.96 and a 52 week high of $182.89. The stock has a market cap of $290.01 billion, a PE ratio of 48.60, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.87. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $173.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $161.39.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.05. AbbVie had a net margin of 11.02% and a return on equity of 165.18%. The company had revenue of $12.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.29 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is 183.98%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at $42,375,512.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at $42,375,512.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 13,753 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.51, for a total transaction of $2,441,295.03. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,173 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,000,989.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003 in the last quarter. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Guggenheim raised 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. Finally, William Blair raised shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Three 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, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.31.

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.