Pingora Partners LLC Sells 800 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Pingora Partners LLC cut its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 30.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,840 shares of the company’s stock after selling 800 shares during the period. Pingora Partners LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $327,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its position in AbbVie by 20.3% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 2,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $397,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 12.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,487,363 shares of the company’s stock worth $491,204,000 after buying an additional 273,078 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,403,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 7,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,494,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aldebaran Financial Inc. purchased a new position in AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at $466,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ABBV. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on AbbVie in a report on Tuesday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $210.00 target price for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.19.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $180.53 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $319.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.22, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $218.66. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $197.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $187.28.

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

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 273.33%.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total transaction of $12,359,426.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 53,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,183,398.72. This trade represents a 52.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. The trade was a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.25% 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.