Strs Ohio Trims Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Strs Ohio reduced its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 711,439 shares of the company’s stock after selling 27,846 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $110,251,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Avion Wealth grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Goepper Burkhardt LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Goepper Burkhardt LLC now owns 3,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $567,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. First Bank & Trust grew its position in AbbVie by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 18,125 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,809,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Hudock Inc. grew its position in AbbVie by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Hudock Inc. now owns 2,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $434,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 3.9% in the third quarter. Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Down 2.2 %

ABBV traded down $3.66 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $162.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,029,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,113,213. The firm has a market capitalization of $287.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.44, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.96 and a 1 year high of $182.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $176.42 and its 200-day moving average is $159.70.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.03. AbbVie had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 162.28%. The firm had revenue of $14.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.60 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.11 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 227.11%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Scott T. Reents sold 14,140 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.44, for a total transaction of $2,509,001.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,065 shares in the company, valued at $4,802,413.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Scott T. Reents sold 14,140 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.44, for a total transaction of $2,509,001.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,065 shares in the company, valued at $4,802,413.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total transaction of $3,716,756.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,855,698.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003 over the last 90 days. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ABBV. Barclays upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. HSBC downgraded shares of AbbVie from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $167.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Monday, December 18th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $177.43.

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.