Marotta Asset Management Sells 72 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Marotta Asset Management reduced its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,708 shares of the company’s stock after selling 72 shares during the period. Marotta Asset Management’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $306,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. GGM Financials LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. GGM Financials LLC now owns 6,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc increased its stake in AbbVie by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 18,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,575,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. increased its stake in AbbVie by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 6,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,362,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,187,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Citizens Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% in the third quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp now owns 5,777 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,141,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Piper Sandler Companies reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on AbbVie from $215.00 to $211.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Daiwa America lowered AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.50.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AbbVie Trading Down 1.0 %

AbbVie stock traded down $1.71 during trading on Friday, reaching $176.79. 981,012 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,311,737. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $207.32. The company has a market capitalization of $312.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.39, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $179.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $184.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.71%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 227.78%.

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.