AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Sold by J.Safra Asset Management Corp

J.Safra Asset Management Corp lessened its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 20.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,023 shares of the company’s stock after selling 255 shares during the quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $159,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in AbbVie by 39.5% during the third quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 286 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Horrell Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the third quarter worth about $45,000. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 240.0% in the 4th quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 340 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Naples Money Management LLC bought a new position in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Core Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in AbbVie by 459.7% in the 3rd quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 347 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV traded down $0.52 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $167.28. 5,502,087 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,594,213. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $174.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $160.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $296.19 billion, a PE ratio of 61.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $130.96 and a 12 month high of $182.89. 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 (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $14.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 227.11%.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total value of $24,572,458.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 519,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $92,020,679.73. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other AbbVie news, CFO Scott T. Reents sold 14,140 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.44, for a total value of $2,509,001.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,802,413.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total transaction of $24,572,458.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 519,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,020,679.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABBV has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. William Blair upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.43.

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.