Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,387 shares of the company’s stock after selling 117 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $246,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Groupama Asset Managment increased its holdings in AbbVie by 40.3% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 38,974 shares during the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $209.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The company has a market capitalization of $370.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $194.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $188.67. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.79 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 273.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. The trade was a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total transaction of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,338,401.36. This represents a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on ABBV shares. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Daiwa America downgraded AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.45.

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.