Valmark Advisers Inc. Sells 526 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Valmark Advisers Inc. cut its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,316 shares of the company’s stock after selling 526 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $979,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 39.5% in the third quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 286 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the third quarter worth about $45,000. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in AbbVie by 240.0% in the fourth quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 340 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the period. Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Core Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in AbbVie by 459.7% in the third quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 347 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other AbbVie news, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total value of $24,572,458.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 519,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,020,679.73. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total value of $9,184,047.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock traded down $7.67 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $159.62. The company had a trading volume of 10,721,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,004,945. The stock has a market cap of $282.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.37, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.58. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $174.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $160.82. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.96 and a 12-month high of $182.89.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $12.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.93 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 162.28%. AbbVie’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.46 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.88%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 183.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ABBV shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Guggenheim upped their price objective 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. Barclays increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $177.43.

AbbVie Company 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.