Sawyer & Company Inc Sells 3,161 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Sawyer & Company Inc trimmed its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 19.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,260 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,161 shares during the period. Sawyer & Company Inc’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,356,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. grew its stake in AbbVie by 100.0% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in AbbVie in the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 4,140.0% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AbbVie Trading Down 2.4 %

NYSE:ABBV opened at $171.32 on Thursday. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $207.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $177.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $184.63. The firm has a market cap of $302.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.65.

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

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.83%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 227.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Leerink Partners raised shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.50.

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.