Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. lowered its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 15.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,662 shares of the company’s stock after selling 836 shares during the quarter. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $828,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,067,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,614,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267,685 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 3.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,630,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,691,732,000 after buying an additional 511,470 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 6.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 10,175,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,009,542,000 after buying an additional 582,953 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 4.2% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,330,779 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,842,642,000 after buying an additional 373,802 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in AbbVie by 1.0% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 4,119,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $813,467,000 after acquiring an additional 38,854 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV opened at $202.03 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $180.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $186.29. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $153.58 and a 12-month high of $207.32. The firm has a market cap of $356.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.18, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.79 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 273.33%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler increased their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $191.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.35.

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.