AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Sold by Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd

Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd lessened its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 18.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,500 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the quarter. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $800,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ascent Group LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 25,778 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,421,000 after buying an additional 1,102 shares in the last quarter. Annandale Capital LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 686.6% during the 2nd quarter. Annandale Capital LLC now owns 29,106 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,992,000 after purchasing an additional 25,406 shares during the period. Copperwynd Financial LLC raised its position in AbbVie by 29.5% in the 2nd quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 1,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares in the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 89.5% during the second quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,588,000 after buying an additional 4,371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silver Lake Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 2.6% during the second quarter. Silver Lake Advisory LLC now owns 57,427 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,850,000 after buying an additional 1,456 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on AbbVie to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $170.05 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $300.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $175.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.77. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 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.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.86%. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend 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.