KLCM Advisors Inc. Reduces Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

KLCM Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,007 shares of the company’s stock after selling 248 shares during the period. KLCM Advisors Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $3,875,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in AbbVie during the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in AbbVie by 39.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, Horrell Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at about $45,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ABBV. William Blair raised shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Three 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, AbbVie has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $177.43.

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE ABBV traded up $0.87 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $162.54. 4,881,516 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,260,014. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $176.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $159.91. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $287.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $130.96 and a 52 week high of $182.89.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 162.28%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.60 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.12 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 227.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total value of $9,184,047.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,375,512.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 519,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $92,020,679.73. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total transaction of $9,184,047.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003 over the last 90 days. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AbbVie 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.