AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Sold by Safeguard Financial LLC

Safeguard Financial LLC lessened its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,428 shares of the company’s stock after selling 268 shares during the quarter. Safeguard Financial LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $282,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. West Coast Financial LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 9.7% in the first quarter. West Coast Financial LLC now owns 1,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. FCG Investment Co acquired a new position in AbbVie during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,413,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC grew its stake in AbbVie by 0.9% during the first quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC now owns 7,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,331,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Palisade Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 65.6% in the first quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC now owns 97,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,726,000 after acquiring an additional 38,562 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 32,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,506,000 after acquiring an additional 2,657 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABBV has been the topic of several research reports. William Blair raised AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on AbbVie from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $198.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total transaction of $12,403,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 446,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,299,645.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV stock opened at $191.80 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $194.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $177.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $338.69 billion, a PE ratio of 56.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $135.85 and a one year high of $199.95.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 203.66%. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.91 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.85 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 183.98%.

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.