AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Sold by GoalVest Advisory LLC

GoalVest Advisory LLC reduced its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,406 shares of the company’s stock after selling 166 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises approximately 0.7% of GoalVest Advisory LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. GoalVest Advisory LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,382,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Groupama Asset Managment grew its stake in AbbVie by 40.3% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 38,974 shares during the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in AbbVie by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE ABBV opened at $170.42 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $175.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $184.73. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $153.58 and a twelve month high of $207.32. The stock has a market cap of $301.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.17, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. AbbVie’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.85%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 227.78%.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Guggenheim lifted their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wolfe Research started coverage on AbbVie in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.50.

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.