Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. Cuts Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,238 shares of the company’s stock after selling 107 shares during the quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $575,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 100.0% in the third 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 last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $171.49 on Monday. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $207.32. The company’s 50 day moving average is $175.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $184.75. The company has a market cap of $303.05 billion, a PE ratio of 59.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. AbbVie’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 215.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ABBV shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on AbbVie from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Daiwa America lowered shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Leerink Partnrs upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.50.

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.