ProVise Management Group LLC Trims Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

ProVise Management Group LLC reduced its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 24.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,373 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,985 shares during the period. ProVise Management Group LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,199,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,190,951,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in AbbVie by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,875,401,000 after acquiring an additional 3,599,336 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its position in AbbVie by 35.9% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,687,472 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,008,867,000 after acquiring an additional 1,503,875 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 26,693.1% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,176,754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $209,109,000 after acquiring an additional 1,172,362 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ABBV. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Leerink Partnrs raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Daiwa America downgraded AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.45.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $213.80 on Wednesday. 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 twelve month low of $153.58 and a twelve month high of $218.66. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $192.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $188.31. The stock has a market cap of $377.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 89.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61.

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

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,338,401.36. This trade represents a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.