Central Bank & Trust Co. Cuts Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Central Bank & Trust Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 36.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,111 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,235 shares during the quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $375,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Groupama Asset Managment raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 40.3% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 38,974 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the third quarter worth $28,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the topic of a number of research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.50.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV stock opened at $171.49 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $175.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $184.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market cap of $303.05 billion, a PE ratio of 59.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.83%. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 215.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction 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 owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.