Trustmark National Bank Trust Department Trims Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Trustmark National Bank Trust Department lowered its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 39,709 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,733 shares during the period. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $7,056,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 35.8% in the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 41.3% in the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,448,000 after purchasing an additional 15,550 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 39,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,011,000 after buying an additional 3,439 shares in the last quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC now owns 42,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,590,000 after buying an additional 3,936 shares during the period. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital increased its holdings in AbbVie by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 25,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,523,000 after buying an additional 3,654 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

NYSE ABBV opened at $174.90 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $309.39 billion, a PE ratio of 72.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $153.58 and a twelve month high of $218.66. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $200.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $188.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.79 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.75%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 273.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total transaction of $12,359,426.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 53,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,183,398.72. This represents a 52.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of AbbVie 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. This trade represents a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $239.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Citigroup boosted their target price 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. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.71.

AbbVie 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.