AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Sold by Middleton & Co. Inc. MA

Middleton & Co. Inc. MA decreased its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 86,979 shares of the company’s stock after selling 664 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for approximately 1.9% of Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $17,177,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 4,140.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the period. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

ABBV opened at $187.85 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $331.72 billion, a PE ratio of 55.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.63. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $194.14 and a 200-day moving average of $178.16. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $135.85 and a 52-week high of $199.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.81.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.02 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 203.66% and a net margin of 9.71%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.91 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 183.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on ABBV. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen boosted their target price on AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America upped their price objective on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup upped their price objective on AbbVie from $170.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on AbbVie from $214.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.39.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total transaction of $12,403,580.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at $83,299,645.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AbbVie Company 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.