Goelzer Investment Management Inc. Decreases Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Goelzer Investment Management Inc. reduced its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,612 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,035 shares during the period. Goelzer Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $9,171,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in AbbVie by 1.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,067,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,614,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267,685 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,630,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,691,732,000 after buying an additional 511,470 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 10,175,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,009,542,000 after buying an additional 582,953 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 4.2% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,330,779 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,842,642,000 after acquiring an additional 373,802 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 1,745.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,728,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $933,698,000 after acquiring an additional 4,471,806 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABBV has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup cut their price target on AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Daiwa America downgraded shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Five equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.50.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of AbbVie 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 in the company, valued at approximately $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 hyperlink. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $170.05 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $153.58 and a twelve month high of $207.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $175.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $184.66. The firm has a market cap of $300.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.05, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.95 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 227.78%.

AbbVie 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.