Monarch Capital Management Inc. Cuts Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Monarch Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 52,959 shares of the company’s stock after selling 393 shares during the quarter. AbbVie comprises 2.6% of Monarch Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Monarch Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $9,411,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter worth about $999,000. Saturna Capital Corp increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 486.1% during the third quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 676,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,531,000 after acquiring an additional 560,808 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in AbbVie by 41.3% during the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,448,000 after purchasing an additional 15,550 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in AbbVie by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 39,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,011,000 after purchasing an additional 3,439 shares during the period. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in AbbVie by 23.5% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 56,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,169,000 after purchasing an additional 10,768 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on ABBV shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of AbbVie in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $203.00 target price on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $191.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Argus raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.50.

AbbVie Stock Down 1.3 %

AbbVie stock opened at $171.49 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.54. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.58 and a fifty-two week high of $207.32. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $175.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $184.60. The firm has a market cap of $303.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 215.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. The trade was a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie 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.