Atlas Private Wealth Advisors Lowers Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Atlas Private Wealth Advisors trimmed its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,507 shares of the company’s stock after selling 193 shares during the quarter. Atlas Private Wealth Advisors’ holdings in AbbVie were worth $801,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Groupama Asset Managment increased its stake in AbbVie by 40.3% in 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 during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the third quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.50.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV stock opened at $170.05 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $175.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $184.66. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $207.32. The company has a market capitalization of $300.51 billion, a PE ratio of 59.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 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 (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. The firm 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. Analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.86%. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 227.78%.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.