AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Sold by NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan

NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan reduced its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 21.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,964 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,000 shares during the quarter. NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,659,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 40.3% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 38,974 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total transaction of $6,070,159.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,985,223.60. This represents a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at $2,338,401.36. This represents a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 56,439 shares of company stock valued at $11,377,057. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on AbbVie from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on AbbVie in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 target price for the company. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.35.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:ABBV opened at $211.27 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $372.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 88.03, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $185.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $187.04. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $153.58 and a 12-month high of $212.30.

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

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

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.