Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Lowers Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC lowered its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 156,501 shares of the company’s stock after selling 371 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for 1.0% of Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $27,810,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth $999,000. Saturna Capital Corp raised its position in AbbVie by 486.1% in the 3rd quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 676,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,531,000 after purchasing an additional 560,808 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc. raised its position in AbbVie by 41.3% in the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,448,000 after purchasing an additional 15,550 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in AbbVie by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 39,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,011,000 after purchasing an additional 3,439 shares during the period. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its position in AbbVie by 23.5% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 56,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,169,000 after purchasing an additional 10,768 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Trading Up 2.0 %

NYSE:ABBV opened at $209.07 on Friday. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $209.60. 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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $184.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $186.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $369.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.11, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.79 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 273.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABBV has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $191.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. The trade was a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,429,199.90. This trade represents a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 56,439 shares of company stock valued at $11,377,057. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.