Fernwood Investment Management LLC Has $2.21 Million Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Fernwood Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 12,432 shares of the company’s stock after selling 258 shares during the period. Fernwood Investment Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,209,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie by 20.3% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 2,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $397,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,487,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,204,000 after purchasing an additional 273,078 shares during the last quarter. United Bank acquired a new position in AbbVie in the third quarter valued at about $217,000. Groupama Asset Managment increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 40.3% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 38,974 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Executive Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 2.8% in the third quarter. Executive Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,903 shares of the company’s stock valued at $573,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE:ABBV opened at $175.03 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $200.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $188.90. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $218.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $309.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business earned $2.79 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 273.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.62.

Insider Activity

In other AbbVie news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $12,359,426.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at $11,183,398.72. This trade represents a 52.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value of $6,070,159.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,985,223.60. This trade represents a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,471 shares of company stock valued at $23,426,451 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.