Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 95,078 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,245 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for 1.8% of Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $16,895,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. RWC Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at $273,000. HealthInvest Partners AB grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 103.9% during the 4th quarter. HealthInvest Partners AB now owns 90,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,985,000 after buying an additional 46,237 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth about $876,000. Black Diamond Financial LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 42.1% in the fourth quarter. Black Diamond Financial LLC now owns 2,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $399,000 after acquiring an additional 665 shares during the last quarter. Finally, South Dakota Investment Council lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 29,071 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,166,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $202.03 on Monday. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $207.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The stock has a market cap of $356.65 billion, a PE ratio of 84.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $181.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $186.41.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its 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 prior year, the company earned $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 273.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABBV has been the topic of a number of research reports. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Daiwa America lowered AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Leerink Partners raised shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Five research 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, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.35.

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.