Essex Financial Services Inc. Sells 183 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Essex Financial Services Inc. lessened its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 37,704 shares of the company’s stock after selling 183 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $7,118,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.7% in the first quarter. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY now owns 32,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,922,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares during the last quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the 1st quarter valued at $526,000. Grimes & Company Inc. lifted its position in AbbVie by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 100,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,254,000 after buying an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. First Bank & Trust lifted its position in AbbVie by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 18,806 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,425,000 after buying an additional 681 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Winthrop Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Winthrop Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $652,000 after buying an additional 78 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 opened at $187.85 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $194.02 and its 200-day moving average is $178.34. The firm has a market cap of $331.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.63. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.85 and a 1-year high of $199.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.51.

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 firm had revenue of $14.46 billion for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.91 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.85 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, Chairman Richard A. Gonzalez sold 66,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.52, for a total transaction of $12,403,580.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 446,599 shares in the company, valued at $83,299,645.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the topic of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Citigroup upped their price objective on AbbVie from $170.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $214.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.39.

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.