Leelyn Smith LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Leelyn Smith LLC cut its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,252 shares of the company’s stock after selling 338 shares during the period. Leelyn Smith LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $3,243,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other 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 transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at $4,429,199.90. The trade was a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at $2,338,401.36. This represents a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $214.45 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $191.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $188.18. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $153.58 and a 12 month high of $218.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $378.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.35, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 last year, the business earned $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 273.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial upped their price target on AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. 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 note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Leerink Partners raised shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Five 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.45.

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.