Holderness Investments Co. Sells 255 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Holderness Investments Co. lessened its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,884 shares of the company’s stock after selling 255 shares during the period. AbbVie comprises approximately 0.9% of Holderness Investments Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Holderness Investments Co.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $4,244,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. HUB Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 69,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,270,000 after acquiring an additional 2,565 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. grew its stake in AbbVie by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 195,450 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,731,000 after acquiring an additional 6,375 shares in the last quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. Symmetry Partners LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the company’s stock valued at $325,000 after buying an additional 524 shares during the period. Lingohr Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $885,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 52.2% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 755,359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,227,000 after buying an additional 259,051 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at $4,429,199.90. This trade represents a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. This represents a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,639 shares of company stock valued at $11,067,025 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABBV has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.45.

AbbVie Price Performance

AbbVie stock opened at $212.21 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market cap of $374.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 88.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The business’s fifty day moving average is $193.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $188.48. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.79 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

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.