Viking Fund Management LLC Sells 16,000 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Viking Fund Management LLC cut its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 12.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 110,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,000 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for approximately 3.0% of Viking Fund Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Viking Fund Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $19,547,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ABBV. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at $999,000. Saturna Capital Corp boosted its stake in AbbVie by 486.1% during the third quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 676,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,531,000 after buying an additional 560,808 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in AbbVie by 41.3% during the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,448,000 after acquiring an additional 15,550 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in AbbVie by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 39,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,011,000 after acquiring an additional 3,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 23.5% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 56,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,169,000 after acquiring an additional 10,768 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,751.92. The trade was a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $169.19 on Thursday. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.58 and a fifty-two week high of $207.32. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $175.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $184.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.54. 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.

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

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.88%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 227.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on AbbVie from $228.00 to $208.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wolfe Research started coverage on AbbVie in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.