Transcend Capital Advisors LLC Decreases Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,893 shares of the company’s stock after selling 256 shares during the period. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $3,393,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 29,922.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,032,374 shares of the company’s stock worth $899,186,000 after purchasing an additional 6,012,281 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth approximately $499,955,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in AbbVie by 0.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,747,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,961,001,000 after buying an additional 1,450,089 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in AbbVie by 201.7% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,143,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $332,242,000 after buying an additional 1,433,236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 34.6% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,397,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $655,463,000 after acquiring an additional 1,130,638 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Down 4.6 %

ABBV traded down $7.67 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $159.62. 10,721,740 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,004,945. The firm has a market cap of $282.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 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 current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $174.59 and a 200 day moving average of $160.74.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.05. AbbVie had a return on equity of 162.28% and a net margin of 8.95%. The business had revenue of $12.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.46 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.19 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 227.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ABBV shares. Truist Financial upped 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 raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. William Blair upgraded AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.43.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 5,144 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.65, for a total value of $908,687.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,233,546.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 5,144 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.65, for a total transaction of $908,687.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,233,546.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total value of $9,184,047.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 243,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,375,512.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003. 0.25% of the stock is currently 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.