James Hambro & Partners LLP Sells 235 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

James Hambro & Partners LLP cut its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 11.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,750 shares of the company’s stock after selling 235 shares during the quarter. James Hambro & Partners LLP’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $311,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie during the third quarter worth about $39,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. boosted 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 worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $176.90 on Tuesday. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $153.58 and a 1 year high of $207.32. The company’s 50-day moving average is $175.84 and its 200 day moving average is $184.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $312.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The business’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.95 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.71%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 227.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup dropped their target price on AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.50.

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.