Summitry LLC Lowers Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Summitry LLC trimmed its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 15.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,525 shares of the company’s stock after selling 638 shares during the quarter. Summitry LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $626,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $96,000. Florida Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 48.6% during the fourth quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $528,000 after buying an additional 971 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its holdings in AbbVie by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 215,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,265,000 after acquiring an additional 19,051 shares during the last quarter. Bay Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth approximately $556,000. Finally, PKS Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $684,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ABBV. Guggenheim upped their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Daiwa America downgraded shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.45.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total transaction of $3,853,399.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. The trade was a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 54,639 shares of company stock valued at $11,067,025. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE:ABBV opened at $201.12 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $195.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $188.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $355.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $153.58 and a 12-month high of $218.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.79 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 273.33%.

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.