AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems trimmed its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 121,381 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,672 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for 0.6% of Kentucky Retirement Systems’ portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in AbbVie were worth $21,569,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. The trade was a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ABBV. Leerink Partners raised shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.35.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of ABBV opened at $200.98 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $207.32. The company has a 50-day moving average of $180.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $186.19. The stock has a market cap of $354.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.74, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.58. 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 earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a return on equity of 257.91% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.79 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

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.