Rockland Trust Co. Decreases Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Rockland Trust Co. reduced its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 32,484 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,800 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $5,772,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GGM Financials LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. GGM Financials LLC now owns 6,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc lifted its stake in AbbVie by 0.3% in the third quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 18,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,575,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in AbbVie by 0.8% during the third quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 6,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Frisch Financial Group Inc. increased its position in AbbVie by 0.8% in the second quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,187,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Citizens Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% in the third quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp now owns 5,777 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,141,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $175.46 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $177.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $184.63. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $153.58 and a 12-month high of $207.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. The firm has a market cap of $310.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.95 EPS. AbbVie’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 227.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,751.92. The trade was a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the subject of several research reports. Argus upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 target price for the company. Leerink Partners raised shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.50.

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.