AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Sold by Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd

Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd lowered its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 34,010 shares of the company’s stock after selling 188 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up about 2.7% of Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $5,993,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Resources Management Corp CT ADV lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 81,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,954,000 after acquiring an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.1% during the second quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,762,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the period. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 9.2% during the second quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $641,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Distillate Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 364,292.5% in the 2nd quarter. Distillate Capital Partners LLC now owns 291,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000,000 after purchasing an additional 291,434 shares during the period. Finally, Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in AbbVie by 33.0% in the 2nd quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 589 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of ABBV opened at $172.41 on Wednesday. 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 one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $207.32. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $175.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $184.80. The company has a market capitalization of $304.67 billion, a PE ratio of 59.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (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 period last year, the business posted $2.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 227.78%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were 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 owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on ABBV shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.50.

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.