Successful Portfolios LLC Decreases Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Successful Portfolios LLC reduced its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,890 shares of the company’s stock after selling 197 shares during the quarter. Successful Portfolios LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,224,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,067,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,614,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267,685 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 15,277,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,620,382,000 after acquiring an additional 134,239 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 3.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,630,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,691,732,000 after acquiring an additional 511,470 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 6.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 10,175,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,009,542,000 after acquiring an additional 582,953 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in AbbVie by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,330,779 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,842,642,000 after purchasing an additional 373,802 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ABBV shares. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. Argus raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on AbbVie from $228.00 to $208.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.50.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AbbVie Trading Down 1.3 %

ABBV opened at $171.49 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $175.78 and its 200-day moving average is $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 firm has a market capitalization 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 released its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. Analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business 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 $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 215.28%.

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.