AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Sold by B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG cut its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 435,531 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,276 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for 0.8% of B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $77,287,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Everence Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in AbbVie by 41.3% during the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,448,000 after purchasing an additional 15,550 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 39,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,011,000 after buying an additional 3,439 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in AbbVie by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,067,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,614,329,000 after buying an additional 1,267,685 shares during the period. Sky Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC now owns 42,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,590,000 after buying an additional 3,936 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital boosted its position in AbbVie by 16.5% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 25,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,523,000 after buying an additional 3,654 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $205.12 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $362.85 billion, a PE ratio of 85.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $218.66. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $197.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $188.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 previous year, the company earned $2.79 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 273.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total transaction of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,338,401.36. This represents a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value of $6,070,159.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,985,223.60. This represents a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,639 shares of company stock valued at $11,067,025. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ABBV. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America increased their price target on AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Daiwa America downgraded AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.45.

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.