West Branch Capital LLC Lowers Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

West Branch Capital LLC lowered its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,743 shares of the company’s stock after selling 878 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up 1.6% of West Branch Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. West Branch Capital LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $5,108,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GGM Financials LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.7% during the third quarter. GGM Financials LLC now owns 6,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 18,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,575,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Dillon & Associates Inc. grew its position in AbbVie by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 6,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp increased its stake in AbbVie by 0.9% in the third quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp now owns 5,777 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,141,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Sunflower Bank N.A. lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.4% during the third quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 13,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,710,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,751.92. The trade was a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of ABBV opened at $169.19 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $175.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $184.84. The company has a market cap of $298.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $153.58 and a twelve month high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.88%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 227.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on ABBV. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on AbbVie from $215.00 to $211.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average 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.