AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Sold by Mawer Investment Management Ltd.

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 262,150 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,186 shares during the quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $46,584,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Groupama Asset Managment increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 40.3% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 38,974 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other news, 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now 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 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America increased their price objective on AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Daiwa America lowered AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.45.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV stock opened at $205.12 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $197.50 and a 200-day moving average of $188.95. The company has a market cap of $362.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.47, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. 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 $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

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 given a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.