AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Stake Trimmed by Sheets Smith Wealth Management

Sheets Smith Wealth Management cut its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,946 shares of the company’s stock after selling 217 shares during the period. Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,656,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $999,000. Saturna Capital Corp grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 486.1% during the third quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 676,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,531,000 after buying an additional 560,808 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. raised its position in AbbVie by 41.3% during the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,448,000 after buying an additional 15,550 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 39,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,011,000 after acquiring an additional 3,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in AbbVie by 23.5% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 56,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,169,000 after acquiring an additional 10,768 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $169.19 on Thursday. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $153.58 and a 12 month high of $207.32. The company has a market cap of $298.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.58. The business’s 50 day moving average is $175.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $184.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. AbbVie’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.88%. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 227.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Daiwa America lowered shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $191.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on AbbVie in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.50.

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.