Sterling Financial Planning Inc. Cuts Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Sterling Financial Planning Inc. decreased its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 7.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,192 shares of the company’s stock after selling 183 shares during the period. Sterling Financial Planning Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $340,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in AbbVie by 89,097.0% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 29,203,106 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,719,514,000 after acquiring an additional 29,170,366 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth $3,033,348,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in AbbVie by 29,922.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,032,374 shares of the company’s stock worth $899,186,000 after acquiring an additional 6,012,281 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 31,571,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,102,311,000 after buying an additional 4,785,277 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 426.5% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,652,122 shares of the company’s stock valued at $754,155,000 after buying an additional 3,768,579 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. 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 report on Monday, February 5th. 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 report on Friday, March 22nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, William Blair upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $177.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total value of $3,716,756.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,903 shares in the company, valued at $9,855,698.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total value of $3,716,756.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,903 shares in the company, valued at $9,855,698.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was 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 owns 243,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,375,512.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.4 %

ABBV traded up $0.68 on Friday, reaching $165.34. 1,278,289 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,578,899. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $175.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $159.97. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $130.96 and a 52-week high of $182.89. The company has a market cap of $292.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.43, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $14.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.02 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 162.28%. The firm’s revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.60 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is 227.11%.

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.