City Holding Co. Reduces Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

City Holding Co. reduced its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,097 shares of the company’s stock after selling 510 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up about 1.0% of City Holding Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. City Holding Co.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $7,125,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RoundAngle Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,730,000. Grove Bank & Trust raised its holdings in AbbVie by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 13,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,335,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth about $1,054,000. Cambridge Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Cambridge Advisors Inc. now owns 8,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,578,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 633.2% during the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 483,827 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,976,000 after buying an additional 417,839 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 Stock Performance

ABBV opened at $171.49 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $175.78 and its 200 day moving average is $184.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. The company has a market cap of $303.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.55, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $153.58 and a 12-month high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.83%. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 215.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on AbbVie to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $228.00 to $208.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.50.

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.