Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. Cuts Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. trimmed its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,865 shares of the company’s stock after selling 409 shares during the period. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $5,485,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 100,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,898,000 after buying an additional 1,297 shares during the last quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 69,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,270,000 after acquiring an additional 2,565 shares during the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. raised its position in AbbVie by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 195,450 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,731,000 after purchasing an additional 6,375 shares during the period. Symmetry Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the company’s stock valued at $325,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lingohr Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth approximately $885,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on ABBV. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.45.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:ABBV opened at $211.54 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $193.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $188.64. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $218.66. The firm has a market cap of $373.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 88.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.79 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 273.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total transaction of $3,853,399.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,338,401.36. This represents a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. This trade represents a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.