AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Sold by Alterity Financial Group LLC

Alterity Financial Group LLC reduced its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,871 shares of the company’s stock after selling 144 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises 1.1% of Alterity Financial Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Alterity Financial Group LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $755,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Retirement Income Solutions Inc acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the first quarter valued at $204,000. Ergoteles LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie by 17.8% in the first quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 5,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $909,000 after acquiring an additional 847 shares in the last quarter. First Western Trust Bank acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the first quarter valued at $1,150,000. Wsfs Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the first quarter valued at $562,000. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP raised its holdings in AbbVie by 80.4% in the first quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 75,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,242,000 after acquiring an additional 33,661 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on ABBV shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of AbbVie from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $173.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, December 11th. William Blair upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $177.43.

AbbVie Price Performance

AbbVie stock traded up $1.62 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $181.97. 5,418,371 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,696,566. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.96 and a 1-year high of $182.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $174.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $157.96. The firm has a market cap of $322.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.03. AbbVie had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 162.28%. The company had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.60 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders 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 3.41%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 227.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total value of $9,184,047.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at $42,375,512.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total transaction of $9,184,047.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at $42,375,512.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 13,753 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.51, for a total transaction of $2,441,295.03. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,173 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,000,989.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003 over the last ninety days. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.