AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Sold by Sfmg LLC

Sfmg LLC lessened its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 7,512 shares of the company’s stock after selling 429 shares during the period. Sfmg LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,164,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Retirement Income Solutions Inc acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 1st quarter valued at $204,000. Ergoteles LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 5,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $909,000 after acquiring an additional 847 shares in the last quarter. First Western Trust Bank acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 1st quarter valued at $1,150,000. Wsfs Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 1st quarter valued at $562,000. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 80.4% during the 1st quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 75,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,242,000 after acquiring an additional 33,661 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on ABBV. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. William Blair raised shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.43.

Insider Activity

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

AbbVie Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of ABBV traded up $0.87 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $162.54. The company had a trading volume of 4,881,516 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,260,014. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $176.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $159.91. The stock has a market cap of $287.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.54, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $130.96 and a 52 week high of $182.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.03. AbbVie had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 162.28%. The company had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.60 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.12 EPS 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 issued a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 227.11%.

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.