Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Trims Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. trimmed its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 262,150 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,186 shares during the period. 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 also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. RWA Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 311,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,270,000 after acquiring an additional 4,664 shares during the period. C2C Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. C2C Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,010 shares of the company’s stock valued at $713,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 40.5% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 644,969 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,611,000 after purchasing an additional 185,820 shares in the last quarter. American Money Management LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. American Money Management LLC now owns 41,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,290,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz SE purchased a new position in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,839,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Erste Group Bank raised AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.45.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE:ABBV opened at $205.12 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $362.85 billion, a PE ratio of 85.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The business’s 50 day moving average is $197.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $188.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.79 EPS. On average, analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current 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 dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 273.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the business’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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. The trade was a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total transaction of $6,070,159.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,985,223.60. This trade represents a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025 over the last quarter. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.