Perry C. Siatis Sells 5,778 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Stock

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,429,199.90. This trade represents a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $204.19 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $360.46 billion, a PE ratio of 85.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $182.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $186.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $153.58 and a 12-month high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.79 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on ABBV shares. Leerink Partners upgraded AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Daiwa America downgraded AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Five 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.35.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in AbbVie by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,072,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,754,908,000 after purchasing an additional 1,424,237 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,067,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,614,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267,685 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 37,144,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,586,948,000 after purchasing an additional 983,888 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 33,983,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,038,898,000 after purchasing an additional 778,126 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in AbbVie by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,875,401,000 after purchasing an additional 3,599,336 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% 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.