Insider Selling: AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) EVP Sells $12,359,426.56 in Stock

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total transaction of $12,359,426.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,183,398.72. This trade represents a 52.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

AbbVie Trading Down 7.5 %

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $186.58 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $200.61 and a 200 day moving average of $189.24. The company has a market cap of $330.06 billion, a PE ratio of 77.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $153.58 and a 12-month high of $218.66. 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 (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.52%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 273.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ABBV. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.45.

Institutional Trading of AbbVie

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Groupama Asset Managment grew its holdings in AbbVie by 40.3% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 38,974 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. EnRich Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in AbbVie by 196.4% during the fourth quarter. EnRich Financial Partners LLC now owns 166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

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.