AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Position Lessened by High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC

High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 46,011 shares of the company’s stock after selling 563 shares during the period. AbbVie makes up approximately 2.3% of High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $8,176,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Groupama Asset Managment raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 40.3% in the third 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 purchased a new position in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 100.0% in the third 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. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. The trade was a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE:ABBV opened at $170.05 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $300.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $153.58 and a twelve month high of $207.32. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $175.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.95 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.86%. 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. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 227.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ABBV shares. Daiwa America lowered shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group increased their price target on AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets lowered AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.