Abacus Planning Group Inc. Trims Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Abacus Planning Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,156 shares of the company’s stock after selling 56 shares during the period. Abacus Planning Group Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $383,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. GGM Financials LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. GGM Financials LLC now owns 6,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% in the third quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 6,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its stake in AbbVie by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 7,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,383,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Carr Financial Group Corp lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 5,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,041,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthstream Advisors Inc. boosted its position in AbbVie by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. now owns 1,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $386,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ABBV. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partnrs upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Wolfe Research began coverage on AbbVie in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.35.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE ABBV opened at $197.30 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $179.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $186.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $348.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $153.58 and a 12-month high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a return on equity of 257.91% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.79 EPS. Analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

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.