Cozad Asset Management Inc. Sells 536 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Cozad Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,120 shares of the company’s stock after selling 536 shares during the period. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $3,220,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.3% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,147,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $424,014,000 after buying an additional 6,810 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 20.3% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 2,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $397,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in AbbVie by 12.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,487,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,204,000 after buying an additional 273,078 shares during the period. United Bank acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the third quarter valued at $217,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the third quarter valued at $250,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $1,143,466.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total transaction of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. The trade was a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 54,639 shares of company stock valued at $11,067,025. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on ABBV shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.45.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.2 %

ABBV stock opened at $211.90 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $191.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $188.05. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $153.58 and a 12 month high of $218.66. The company has a market cap of $374.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the firm earned $2.79 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 273.33%.

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.