AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Position Lowered by Wellspring Financial Advisors LLC

Wellspring Financial Advisors LLC reduced its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,819 shares of the company’s stock after selling 135 shares during the quarter. Wellspring Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $501,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 873,918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $158,000,000 after acquiring an additional 39,454 shares during the last quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC now owns 15,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,788,000 after purchasing an additional 2,151 shares during the period. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE increased its stake in AbbVie by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $151,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Trek Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. Trek Financial LLC now owns 7,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,288,000 after purchasing an additional 974 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 32.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,097,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,215,903,000 after buying an additional 4,466,971 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $186.58 on Monday. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $218.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The stock has a market cap of $330.06 billion, a PE ratio of 77.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $200.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $189.18.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is 273.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total value of $12,359,426.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,183,398.72. This represents a 52.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total transaction of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. The trade was a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 113,471 shares of company stock valued at $23,426,451. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ABBV shares. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America upped their target price on AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.45.

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.