SFE Investment Counsel Sells 400 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

SFE Investment Counsel decreased its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,269 shares of the company’s stock after selling 400 shares during the period. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $5,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Retirement Income Solutions Inc bought a new position in AbbVie in the first quarter valued at $204,000. Ergoteles LLC grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 5,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $909,000 after acquiring an additional 847 shares during the period. First Western Trust Bank bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,150,000. Wsfs Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 1st quarter valued at about $562,000. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP grew its position in shares of AbbVie by 80.4% in the 1st quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 75,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,242,000 after acquiring an additional 33,661 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 5,144 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.65, for a total value of $908,687.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,233,546.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 5,144 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.65, for a total transaction of $908,687.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,233,546.95. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Richard A. Gonzalez sold 138,616 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.27, for a total transaction of $24,572,458.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 519,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,020,679.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. William Blair raised shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.43.

AbbVie Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of AbbVie stock traded up $0.50 during trading on Thursday, reaching $164.75. 2,814,380 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,613,529. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.76. AbbVie Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.96 and a 1-year high of $182.89. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $175.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $159.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $291.71 billion, a PE ratio of 60.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.03. AbbVie had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 162.28%. The company had revenue of $14.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.60 EPS. AbbVie’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.76%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 227.11%.

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.