Advisors Asset Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. decreased its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 29.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 99,304 shares of the company’s stock after selling 40,794 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $17,646,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Carlson Capital Management raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 28.8% during the fourth quarter. Carlson Capital Management now owns 2,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $361,000 after buying an additional 454 shares during the last quarter. Clarity Wealth Development LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC now owns 32,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,721,000 after buying an additional 1,320 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 20,090 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,570,000 after buying an additional 707 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mystic Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 37.1% during the fourth quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,789,000 after buying an additional 5,770 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $214.45 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $153.58 and a twelve month high of $218.66. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $191.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $188.18. The stock has a market cap of $378.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 89.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.79 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 273.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ABBV. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.45.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $1,143,466.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value of $6,070,159.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,985,223.60. This trade represents a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025 over the last 90 days. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AbbVie 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.