AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Sold by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 36.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,767 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,814 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $3,993,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. boosted its position in AbbVie by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 23,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,480,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the period. Torray Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 13.0% during the third quarter. Torray Investment Partners LLC now owns 21,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,159,000 after purchasing an additional 2,446 shares during the period. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 21.3% in the third quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 26,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,936,000 after purchasing an additional 4,633 shares during the period. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $413,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Opinicus Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,296,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other news, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 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 that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were 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 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 5,144 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.65, for a total transaction of $908,687.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,233,546.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV traded up $2.98 on Friday, hitting $163.79. 5,850,102 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,457,836. The firm has a market capitalization of $290.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.61, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $173.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $161.10. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $130.96 and a one year high of $182.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.87.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $12.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.93 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 11.02% and a return on equity of 165.18%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.46 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.29 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 183.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ABBV shares. Barclays decreased their price target on AbbVie from $195.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, William Blair raised AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.31.

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.