Argyle Capital Management Inc. Reduces Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Argyle Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 39.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,250 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,450 shares during the quarter. Argyle Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $814,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in AbbVie by 39.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter worth $45,000. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 459.7% during the 3rd quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 347 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the period. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 240.0% during the 4th quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 340 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Finally, Naples Money Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the 4th quarter worth $53,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays increased their price target on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Guggenheim increased their price target on AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Raymond James increased their target price on AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, William Blair raised AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.43.

AbbVie Stock Down 4.6 %

ABBV stock traded down $7.67 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $159.62. The company had a trading volume of 10,721,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,004,945. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $282.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $174.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $160.90. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.96 and a fifty-two week high of $182.89.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $12.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.93 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 162.28% and a net margin of 8.95%. AbbVie’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.46 EPS. Analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.19 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.88%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 183.98%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 5,144 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.65, for a total value of $908,687.60. Following the transaction, 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 available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 5,144 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.65, for a total transaction of $908,687.60. Following the transaction, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total value of $3,716,756.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,855,698.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.