Central Pacific Bank Trust Division Reduces Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lowered its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 39.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,407 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,375 shares during the quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,494,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

AbbVie Stock Performance

ABBV stock traded up $1.67 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $181.11. The stock had a trading volume of 1,690,559 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,855,112. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $180.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $184.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $320.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week 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.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.96 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 227.78%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ABBV. Citigroup reduced their price objective on AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on AbbVie to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Truist Financial upped their target price on AbbVie from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Five equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.70.

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.