Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp Sells 1,130 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp lessened its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 18,490 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,130 shares during the period. AbbVie makes up approximately 1.7% of Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $3,286,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Candriam S.C.A. lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 414,838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,717,000 after purchasing an additional 27,616 shares in the last quarter. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth $1,394,000. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 21,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,750,000 after acquiring an additional 2,505 shares during the period. Blue Barn Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC now owns 1,273 shares of the company’s stock worth $226,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, Freestone Capital Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC now owns 65,696 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,674,000 after acquiring an additional 1,584 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.9 %

ABBV opened at $211.61 on Thursday. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $215.66. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $186.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $187.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $373.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.17, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58.

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

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABBV has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Leerink Partners upgraded AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America boosted their target price on AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Five investment 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 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 $1,202,751.92. The trade was a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total transaction of $6,070,159.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,985,223.60. This represents a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,439 shares of company stock worth $11,377,057 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.