Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,387 shares of the company’s stock after selling 117 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $246,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,219 shares of the company’s stock worth $927,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth about $1,005,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth about $124,954,000. Umpqua Bank lifted its position in AbbVie by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 2,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $457,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the period. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in AbbVie by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $467,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. The trade was a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value of $6,070,159.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,985,223.60. This represents a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 54,639 shares of company stock valued at $11,067,025. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV opened at $209.98 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $370.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $194.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $188.67. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 273.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.45.

AbbVie Company 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.