Claro Advisors LLC Sells 1,629 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Claro Advisors LLC lowered its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,100 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,629 shares during the quarter. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $4,105,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. Accelerate Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Accelerate Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,237 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group increased its stake in AbbVie by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 10,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,820,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in AbbVie by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 25,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,523,000 after purchasing an additional 3,654 shares in the last quarter. Talbot Financial LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 96,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,150,000 after purchasing an additional 4,503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its stake in AbbVie by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 132,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,501,000 after purchasing an additional 1,231 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE ABBV opened at $176.94 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $312.68 billion, a PE ratio of 61.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $207.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $178.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $184.61.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.95 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.96 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 227.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Argus upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of AbbVie to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.