AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,748 shares of the company’s stock after selling 97 shares during the quarter. AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,798,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in AbbVie by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $205.06 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $183.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $186.85. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $207.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The company has a market capitalization of $362.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 previous year, the company posted $2.79 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is presently 273.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on ABBV shares. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partnrs raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on AbbVie from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler raised their target price 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. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price objective for the company. Five investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.35.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. The trade was a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.