Rathbones Group PLC Sells 10,327 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Rathbones Group PLC lessened its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 11.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 79,428 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,327 shares during the quarter. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $14,114,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Groupama Asset Managment raised its holdings in AbbVie by 40.3% during 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 period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on ABBV shares. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group upped their price target on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total transaction of $12,359,426.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 53,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,183,398.72. This trade represents a 52.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value of $6,070,159.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,985,223.60. This represents a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451 over the last three months. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $186.11 on Tuesday. 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 cap of $329.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.55, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $153.58 and a 1 year high of $218.66. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $200.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $189.13.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $2.79 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

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.