Braun Bostich & Associates Inc. Lowers Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Braun Bostich & Associates Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 10.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,496 shares of the company’s stock after selling 175 shares during the period. Braun Bostich & Associates Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Groupama Asset Managment increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 40.3% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 38,974 shares during the period. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $169.19 on Thursday. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $153.58 and a 1-year high of $207.32. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $175.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.84. The firm has a market cap of $298.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.75, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. AbbVie’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.88%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 227.78%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on AbbVie from $215.00 to $211.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.50.

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.