AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Stock Position Lowered by Welch & Forbes LLC

Welch & Forbes LLC lessened its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 363,548 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,021 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $64,603,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. GGM Financials LLC grew its holdings in AbbVie by 0.7% during the third quarter. GGM Financials LLC now owns 6,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Dillon & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% in the third quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 6,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Physicians Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. now owns 12,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,159,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Carr Financial Group Corp boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.1% in the third quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 5,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,041,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthstream Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 3.0% in the third quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. now owns 1,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $386,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE ABBV opened at $210.71 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $186.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $187.47. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $153.58 and a 1 year high of $215.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $371.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 273.33%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were 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 $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,202,751.92. The trade was a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,439 shares of company stock valued at $11,377,057 over the last ninety days. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.45.

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.