Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc. Sells 276 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 11,436 shares of the company’s stock after selling 276 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up 1.9% of Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,033,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Everence Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 41.3% during the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,448,000 after acquiring an additional 15,550 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 39,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,011,000 after purchasing an additional 3,439 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC now owns 42,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,590,000 after buying an additional 3,936 shares during the period. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 25,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,523,000 after buying an additional 3,654 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Stock Performance

AbbVie stock opened at $201.12 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The stock has a market cap of $355.05 billion, a PE ratio of 83.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $153.58 and a 12-month high of $218.66. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $195.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $188.78.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 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. As a group, analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,338,401.36. The trade was a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value 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 approximately $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ABBV shares. Bank of America upped their price target on AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group upped their target price on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.45.

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.