Slagle Financial LLC Decreases Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Slagle Financial LLC lessened its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,088 shares of the company’s stock after selling 316 shares during the quarter. Slagle Financial LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $904,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its position in AbbVie by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 2,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $397,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 12.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,487,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,204,000 after buying an additional 273,078 shares in the last quarter. United Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the third quarter worth approximately $217,000. Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter worth $1,436,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in AbbVie during the third quarter worth about $152,000. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.45.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,985,223.60. The trade was a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 54,639 shares of company stock valued at $11,067,025. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $202.79 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $357.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a 50-day moving average of $196.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $188.96. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.58 and a fifty-two week high of $218.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.79 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.