Welch & Forbes LLC Cuts Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Welch & Forbes LLC decreased its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 381,976 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,090 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $59,195,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,450,089 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 2.9% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,175,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,796,085,000 after acquiring an additional 914,485 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 2.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 21,936,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,269,822,000 after acquiring an additional 491,391 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in AbbVie by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 14,066,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,098,436,000 after purchasing an additional 199,833 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,271,472 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,680,126,000 after purchasing an additional 371,842 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. William Blair raised shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Raymond James raised their price target on AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.31.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE ABBV traded down $1.06 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $162.73. 5,834,137 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,663,803. The company has a 50 day moving average of $172.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $161.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $288.14 billion, a PE ratio of 48.29, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.61. 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.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 3rd. 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 165.18% and a net margin of 11.02%. The firm had revenue of $12.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.93 billion. AbbVie’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.29 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

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 issued a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 183.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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