Sharp Financial Services LLC Trims Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Sharp Financial Services LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 9.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,178 shares of the company’s stock after selling 128 shares during the quarter. Sharp Financial Services LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $209,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 40.3% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 38,974 shares in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 100.0% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABBV has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Argus upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Daiwa Capital Markets cut AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, December 5th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $228.00 to $208.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $170.42 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $301.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $175.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $184.73. 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.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The business’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.95 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.85%. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 227.78%.

About AbbVie

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.