Capital Wealth Planning LLC Trims Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Capital Wealth Planning LLC cut its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,735 shares of the company’s stock after selling 235 shares during the quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,197,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.3% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,147,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $424,014,000 after purchasing an additional 6,810 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 20.3% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 2,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $397,000 after buying an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. grew its position in AbbVie by 15.9% during the third quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 31,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,176,000 after buying an additional 4,299 shares in the last quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. grew its position in AbbVie by 13.0% during the third quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. now owns 10,010 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,977,000 after buying an additional 1,152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 18.0% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 23,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,594,000 after buying an additional 3,542 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,985,223.60. This represents a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at $2,338,401.36. This trade represents a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,439 shares of company stock valued at $11,377,057 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Trading Up 2.0 %

NYSE ABBV opened at $209.07 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $153.58 and a 1-year high of $209.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $184.42 and a 200-day moving average of $186.95. The firm has a market cap of $369.09 billion, a PE ratio of 87.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released 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 prior year, the business posted $2.79 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 273.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on ABBV shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on AbbVie in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler Companies restated an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.35.

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.