Clearstead Trust LLC Reduces Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Clearstead Trust LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 11.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,121 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,014 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for about 0.6% of Clearstead Trust LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Clearstead Trust LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,343,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ABBV. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in AbbVie by 29,922.3% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,032,374 shares of the company’s stock worth $899,186,000 after purchasing an additional 6,012,281 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth about $499,955,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in AbbVie by 0.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,747,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,961,001,000 after purchasing an additional 1,450,089 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in AbbVie by 201.7% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,143,910 shares of the company’s stock worth $332,242,000 after purchasing an additional 1,433,236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in AbbVie by 34.6% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,397,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $655,463,000 after purchasing an additional 1,130,638 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on ABBV. William Blair upgraded AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Raymond James lifted their target price on AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays decreased their target price on AbbVie from $195.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on AbbVie from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total transaction of $9,184,047.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,375,512.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total value of $9,184,047.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,375,512.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total value of $3,716,756.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,855,698.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV traded up $2.98 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $163.79. 5,850,102 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,457,836. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $173.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $161.22. The firm has a market cap of $290.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.60, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.61. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $130.96 and a twelve month high of $182.89.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.05. AbbVie had a return on equity of 165.18% and a net margin of 11.02%. The firm had revenue of $12.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.46 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.29 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.79%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 183.98%.

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.