Aviance Capital Partners LLC Lowers Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 122,613 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,704 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises approximately 4.1% of Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $19,001,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 64,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,026,000 after buying an additional 5,519 shares during the period. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in AbbVie by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $576,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in AbbVie by 39.4% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 66,831 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,357,000 after acquiring an additional 18,902 shares during the period. Lincoln National Corp lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 80,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,446,000 after purchasing an additional 3,354 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fielder Capital Group LLC bought a new position in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth about $336,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

ABBV stock traded down $1.06 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $162.73. The company had a trading volume of 5,834,137 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,663,803. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $172.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $161.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a market capitalization of $288.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.61. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.96 and a 1 year high of $182.89.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.05. AbbVie had a return on equity of 165.18% and a net margin of 11.02%. The business had revenue of $12.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.81%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 183.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total transaction of $9,184,047.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 243,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,375,512.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other AbbVie news, CFO Scott T. Reents sold 14,140 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.44, for a total transaction of $2,509,001.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,065 shares in the company, valued at $4,802,413.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total value of $9,184,047.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003 over the last quarter. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ABBV. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Truist Financial raised their price target on AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Barclays decreased their price objective on AbbVie from $195.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, William Blair upgraded AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.31.

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.