AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Stock Position Lowered by Guardian Investment Management

Guardian Investment Management lessened its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,121 shares of the company’s stock after selling 700 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises approximately 2.8% of Guardian Investment Management’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Guardian Investment Management’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $3,428,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ABBV. Retirement Income Solutions Inc purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 1st quarter valued at $204,000. Ergoteles LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 5,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $909,000 after acquiring an additional 847 shares during the period. First Western Trust Bank acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the 1st quarter valued at $1,150,000. Wsfs Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the 1st quarter valued at $562,000. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP grew its holdings in AbbVie by 80.4% during the 1st quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 75,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,242,000 after purchasing an additional 33,661 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABBV has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. William Blair raised shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $177.43.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total value of $3,716,756.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,855,698.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total value of $3,716,756.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,855,698.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Scott T. Reents sold 14,140 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.44, for a total transaction of $2,509,001.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,065 shares in the company, valued at $4,802,413.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock traded up $0.68 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $164.93. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,773,671 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,613,529. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $175.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $159.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.87. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $130.96 and a one year high of $182.89. The stock has a market cap of $292.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.03. AbbVie had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 162.28%. The company had revenue of $14.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.60 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.76%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 227.11%.

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.