Perpetual Ltd Sells 63 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Perpetual Ltd cut its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,443 shares of the company’s stock after selling 63 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $3,455,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter worth about $39,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of ABBV opened at $172.41 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $175.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $184.80. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $153.58 and a 12 month high of $207.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $304.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion for 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%. The firm’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 company earned $2.95 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders 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. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 227.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,751.92. The trade was a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ABBV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Argus raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group increased their target price on AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.50.

AbbVie Company 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.