OmniStar Financial Group Inc. Sells 958 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

OmniStar Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 12,750 shares of the company’s stock after selling 958 shares during the quarter. AbbVie comprises about 2.5% of OmniStar Financial Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. OmniStar Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,976,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Whitcomb & Hess Inc. raised its stake in AbbVie by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Whitcomb & Hess Inc. now owns 2,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $385,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC raised its stake in AbbVie by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 15,066 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,335,000 after buying an additional 1,110 shares during the period. Trust Co of the South acquired a new position in AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth approximately $981,000. Tectonic Advisors LLC raised its stake in AbbVie by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 28,916 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,481,000 after buying an additional 1,882 shares during the period. Finally, Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth approximately $205,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE ABBV traded up $0.67 on Tuesday, hitting $179.20. 4,392,374 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,711,853. The business’s fifty day moving average is $173.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $157.59. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $130.96 and a 12 month high of $182.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $317.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.64, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.87.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.03. AbbVie had a return on equity of 162.28% and a net margin of 8.95%. The business had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.60 earnings per share. AbbVie’s revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 227.11%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total value of $3,716,756.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,855,698.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total value of $3,716,756.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,903 shares in the company, valued at $9,855,698.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,949 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.79, for a total value of $10,539,491.71. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 60,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,895,641.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Guggenheim increased their price objective on AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays increased their price objective on AbbVie from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. HSBC downgraded AbbVie from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $167.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Monday, December 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised AbbVie from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $173.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, December 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.71.

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.