WealthPLAN Partners LLC Decreases Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

WealthPLAN Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 32,641 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,782 shares during the quarter. WealthPLAN Partners LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $5,800,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the third quarter worth $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter valued at $39,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of ABBV opened at $193.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $341.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $207.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $178.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $185.96.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 257.91%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.79 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.32 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on ABBV shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on AbbVie from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $191.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.35.

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.