Sigma Planning Corp Trims Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Sigma Planning Corp lowered its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 107,138 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,324 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for 0.6% of Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $19,038,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Redmond Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth $1,623,000. Oxbow Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 7,120 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,265,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Element Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Element Wealth LLC now owns 5,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $960,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,114,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bell Bank boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Bell Bank now owns 73,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,999,000 after acquiring an additional 6,333 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ABBV. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on AbbVie from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Daiwa America downgraded AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Leerink Partners raised AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.35.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $202.03 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $356.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $180.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $186.29. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $153.58 and a 12-month high of $207.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $2.79 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.32 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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.