Palisade Asset Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Palisade Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 58,779 shares of the company’s stock after selling 132 shares during the period. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $9,109,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 39.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 286 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Horrell Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at about $45,000. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 459.7% during the 3rd quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bourgeon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 240.0% in the 4th quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 340 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on ABBV shares. 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 report on Tuesday, February 6th. Raymond James boosted their price objective 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. Guggenheim raised their target price on AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays cut their price target on AbbVie from $195.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on AbbVie from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Three 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total transaction of $24,572,458.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 519,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $92,020,679.73. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other AbbVie news, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total transaction of $24,572,458.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 519,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $92,020,679.73. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,855,698.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of ABBV stock traded down $2.10 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $160.45. The stock had a trading volume of 5,734,205 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,643,670. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $284.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.55, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.61. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $130.96 and a one year high of $182.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $172.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $161.62.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $12.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.93 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 165.18% and a net margin of 11.02%. The company’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.46 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.29 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 183.98%.

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.