AbbVie Inc. $ABBV Shares Sold by CENTRAL TRUST Co

CENTRAL TRUST Co reduced its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 211,905 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,290 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises about 1.0% of CENTRAL TRUST Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $55,432,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Three Bridge Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 3rd quarter valued at about $132,000. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. now owns 2,652 shares of the company’s stock valued at $693,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the period. Banyan Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at about $737,000. Smith Partners Wealth Management LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Smith Partners Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,858 shares of the company’s stock worth $486,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its position in AbbVie by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 108,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,300,000 after acquiring an additional 12,825 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $294.93 on Thursday. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.75 and a 52-week high of $302.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $521.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.20. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $274.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $240.18.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 30th. The company reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $17.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.32 billion. AbbVie had a negative return on equity of 450.55% and a net margin of 15.67%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.86 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 13.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $1.82 per share. This is an increase from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.73. This represents a $7.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 119.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ABBV shares. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $275.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, November 2nd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $298.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Leerink Partners increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $309.00 to $342.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. Erste Group Bank raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of AbbVie from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $235.00 to $300.00 in a report on Thursday, August 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $297.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 32,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $8,177,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 74,430 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,607,500. The trade was a 30.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Company Profile

AbbVie is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and markets medicines for a range of serious health conditions. Its research and product portfolio spans immunology, oncology, neuroscience and other therapeutic areas. Key products include the immunology medicines Skyrizi and Rinvoq, cancer treatments such as Imbruvica and Venclexta, and neuroscience therapies including Botox and Vraylar. Through its Allergan acquisition, AbbVie also offers aesthetics products such as Botox Cosmetic and Juvéderm.