Mustard Seed Financial LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Mustard Seed Financial LLC lessened its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,057 shares of the company’s stock after selling 110 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for about 0.9% of Mustard Seed Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Mustard Seed Financial LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,076,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ABBV. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie in the third quarter worth $39,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in AbbVie in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.7 %

ABBV stock opened at $170.42 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $153.58 and a 1 year high of $207.32. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $175.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $184.73. The firm has a market cap of $301.15 billion, a PE ratio of 59.17, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64.

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

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.85%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 227.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on AbbVie from $228.00 to $208.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.50.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were 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 represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.