Romano Brothers AND Company Trims Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Romano Brothers AND Company cut its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 131,181 shares of the company’s stock after selling 946 shares during the period. AbbVie makes up 2.9% of Romano Brothers AND Company’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Romano Brothers AND Company’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $23,311,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 40.3% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 38,974 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 100.0% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Trading Down 1.3 %

AbbVie stock opened at $171.49 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $175.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $184.75. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week 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 company has a market cap of $303.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. AbbVie’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.95 EPS. Analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on AbbVie to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on AbbVie from $215.00 to $211.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Leerink Partnrs raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.50.

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.