First PREMIER Bank Cuts Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

First PREMIER Bank reduced its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,026 shares of the company’s stock after selling 400 shares during the period. First PREMIER Bank’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,249,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Echo45 Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $246,000. True North Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 373.6% during the fourth quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 26,055 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,630,000 after purchasing an additional 20,553 shares in the last quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,121,000 after purchasing an additional 686 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 956,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,980,000 after purchasing an additional 25,246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Phillips Wealth Planners LLC grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 7,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,237,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on ABBV shares. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $191.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Argus upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.50.

AbbVie Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE ABBV opened at $170.42 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $175.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $184.73. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $207.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $301.15 billion, a PE ratio of 59.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.85%. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 227.78%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

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

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.