AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Stake Lowered by Bath Savings Trust Co

Bath Savings Trust Co decreased its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 20,284 shares of the company’s stock after selling 340 shares during the period. Bath Savings Trust Co’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $3,604,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GGM Financials LLC increased 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 worth $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in AbbVie by 0.8% during the third quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 6,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,362,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. raised its position in AbbVie by 0.8% during the second quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,187,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Citizens Financial Corp lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ABBV. Daiwa America cut shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on AbbVie from $228.00 to $208.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. UBS Group lifted their target price on AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Leerink Partners upgraded AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Five equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.70.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the company’s 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 $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV traded down $0.70 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $179.40. The stock had a trading volume of 2,426,023 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,286,292. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $180.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.36. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.58 and a fifty-two week 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 company has a market capitalization of $317.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.95 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 227.78%.

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.