WBI Investments LLC Lowers Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

WBI Investments LLC cut its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 18.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,952 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,006 shares during the quarter. WBI Investments LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,630,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. American National Bank grew its holdings in AbbVie by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. American National Bank now owns 59,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,204,000 after purchasing an additional 2,695 shares during the period. AXS Investments LLC lifted its position in AbbVie by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. AXS Investments LLC now owns 9,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,477,000 after buying an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in AbbVie by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 17,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,641,000 after buying an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC lifted its position in AbbVie by 33.4% during the fourth quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 30,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,791,000 after buying an additional 7,737 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in AbbVie by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $413,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.6 %

ABBV traded up $1.02 during trading on Thursday, hitting $169.16. The company had a trading volume of 1,941,541 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,590,924. The company has a market cap of $298.71 billion, a PE ratio of 50.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50-day moving average of $164.92 and a 200-day moving average of $168.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.93, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.83. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $132.70 and a 1-year high of $182.89.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $12.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.93 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 11.02% and a return on equity of 179.47%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.46 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.61 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be issued a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 183.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABBV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. HSBC raised shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $191.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.07.

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.