WealthTrust Asset Management LLC Sells 83 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

WealthTrust Asset Management LLC reduced its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,729 shares of the company’s stock after selling 83 shares during the period. WealthTrust Asset Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $840,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. State Street Corp increased its holdings in AbbVie by 1.6% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in AbbVie by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,875,401,000 after acquiring an additional 3,599,336 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in AbbVie by 3.9% in the third 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 during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in AbbVie by 6.1% in 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 worth $2,009,542,000 after acquiring an additional 582,953 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position 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 worth $1,842,642,000 after acquiring an additional 373,802 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. This represents a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total transaction of $6,070,159.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,985,223.60. This trade represents a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,439 shares of company stock valued at $11,377,057 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on ABBV shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.45.

AbbVie Stock Performance

AbbVie stock opened at $211.90 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $153.58 and a 1-year high of $218.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $374.07 billion, a PE ratio of 88.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $191.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $188.10.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.