1,898 AbbVie Inc. $ABBV Shares Sold by Confluence Wealth Services Inc.

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. trimmed its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 36,948 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,898 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $9,665,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Moneco Advisors LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Moneco Advisors LLC now owns 23,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,084,000 after buying an additional 314 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 160,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,097,000 after purchasing an additional 1,938 shares in the last quarter. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. now owns 24,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,443,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,225,000 after purchasing an additional 1,532 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Csenge Advisory Group grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 25,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,651,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $293.88 on Wednesday. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $190.75 and a 52 week high of $302.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $519.46 billion, a PE ratio of 50.58, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.20. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $273.45 and its 200-day moving average is $239.80.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 30th. The company reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $17.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.86 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 13.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business 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 $1.82 dividend. This represents a $7.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 15th. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.73. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is 125.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ABBV shares. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $235.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. HSBC boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $310.00 to $346.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 2nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $230.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $285.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $297.46.

About AbbVie

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.