Wright Investors Service Inc. Trims Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Wright Investors Service Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 28.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 34,480 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,046 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for about 2.0% of Wright Investors Service Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $6,127,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ABBV. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 100.0% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,202,751.92. The trade was a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $176.94 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $312.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $178.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $184.61. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. AbbVie’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.96 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.71%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 227.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on ABBV shares. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on AbbVie in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 price target on the stock. Daiwa America cut shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.50.

AbbVie Company 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.