AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Sold by Geneos Wealth Management Inc.

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,909 shares of the company’s stock after selling 306 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $5,670,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter worth about $39,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 100.0% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler upped their target price on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. 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. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Daiwa America downgraded AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Five research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.50.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE ABBV opened at $170.05 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $175.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $184.66. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $207.32. The stock has a market cap of $300.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.95 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 227.78%.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were 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 directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by 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.