Joule Financial LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Joule Financial LLC lowered its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 10.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,686 shares of the company’s stock after selling 207 shares during the quarter. Joule Financial LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $300,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of AbbVie by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $171.49 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $303.05 billion, a PE ratio of 59.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $175.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $184.75. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $153.58 and a 1 year high of $207.32. 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 (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.95 EPS. AbbVie’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ABBV shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $231.00 to $224.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on AbbVie from $228.00 to $208.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Argus upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on AbbVie to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.50.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,202,751.92. The trade was a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company 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.