Flputnam Investment Management Co. Has $19.43 Million Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. lessened its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 125,388 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,781 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $19,431,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 39.5% during the third quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 286 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horrell Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in AbbVie in the third quarter worth about $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ABBV. HSBC cut shares of AbbVie from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $167.00 to $156.00 in a report on Monday, December 18th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Barclays lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Guggenheim upped their target price on AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.43.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.4 %

AbbVie stock traded down $0.61 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $161.67. 5,433,033 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,675,823. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $176.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $159.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02. The company has a market cap of $286.26 billion, a PE ratio of 59.70, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $130.96 and a one year high of $182.89.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.03. AbbVie had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 162.28%. The business had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.60 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.11 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.83%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 227.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total value of $9,184,047.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total value of $24,572,458.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 519,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,020,679.73. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total value of $9,184,047.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003. Company insiders own 0.25% 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.