Petredis Investment Advisors LLC Trims Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Petredis Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,532 shares of the company’s stock after selling 446 shares during the quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $3,826,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp grew 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 buying an additional 1,267,685 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in AbbVie by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,630,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $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 increased its position in 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 valued at $2,009,542,000 after purchasing an additional 582,953 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,330,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,842,642,000 after purchasing an additional 373,802 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 1,745.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,728,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $933,698,000 after purchasing an additional 4,471,806 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $170.05 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $207.32. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $175.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $184.66. 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 cap of $300.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for 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. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.86%. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 227.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ABBV shares. Daiwa America downgraded shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays boosted their price target on AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.50.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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.