Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. Cuts Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 32,767 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,824 shares during the period. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $5,823,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,067,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,614,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267,685 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 10,175,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,009,542,000 after purchasing an additional 582,953 shares during the last quarter. Saturna Capital Corp increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 486.1% in the 3rd quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 676,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,531,000 after purchasing an additional 560,808 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,630,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,691,732,000 after purchasing an additional 511,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 19.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,993,734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $528,993,000 after purchasing an additional 483,455 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ABBV shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Argus raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.35.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $202.03 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $356.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $181.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $186.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.54. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $153.58 and a 1-year high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 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 last year, the firm posted $2.79 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 273.33%.

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.