S.A. Mason LLC Sells 83 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

S.A. Mason LLC reduced its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 12,267 shares of the company’s stock after selling 83 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for about 1.3% of S.A. Mason LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. S.A. Mason LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,901,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,747,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,961,001,000 after purchasing an additional 1,450,089 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 139,161,796 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,749,269,000 after acquiring an additional 440,286 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 78,182,567 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,533,537,000 after acquiring an additional 1,156,130 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in AbbVie by 2.9% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,175,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,796,085,000 after purchasing an additional 914,485 shares during the period. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie by 89,097.0% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 29,203,106 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,719,514,000 after purchasing an additional 29,170,366 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $180.35 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $319.34 billion, a PE ratio of 66.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $174.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $157.81. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $130.96 and a twelve month high of $182.89.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.03. AbbVie had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 162.28%. The business had revenue of $14.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.60 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.15 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 227.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ABBV shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised AbbVie from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $173.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, December 11th. HSBC downgraded AbbVie from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $167.00 to $156.00 in a report on Monday, December 18th. Raymond James raised their price target on AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, William Blair upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $177.43.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total value of $24,572,458.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 519,099 shares in the company, valued at $92,020,679.73. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Scott T. Reents sold 14,140 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.44, for a total transaction of $2,509,001.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,802,413.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total value of $24,572,458.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 519,099 shares in the company, valued at $92,020,679.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AbbVie 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.