Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. Sells 2,375 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 314,459 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,375 shares during the period. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $55,879,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,110 shares of the company’s stock valued at $553,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $242,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in AbbVie by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. now owns 12,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,159,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its stake in AbbVie by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 9,842 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,749,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $184.30 on Monday. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.58 and a fifty-two week high of $218.66. The stock has a market cap of $326.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $194.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $187.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $13.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.91 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.31 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 279.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ABBV shares. StockNews.com raised AbbVie from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Erste Group Bank raised AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group increased their price target on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America increased their price target on AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at $2,338,401.36. The trade was a 62.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total value of $12,359,426.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 53,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,183,398.72. This trade represents a 52.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.