AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Sold by Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc.

Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. reduced its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 45.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 25,779 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,777 shares during the period. AbbVie makes up approximately 1.7% of Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $3,995,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $134,000. IFG Advisory LLC increased its position in AbbVie by 53.6% in the 4th quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 37,307 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,782,000 after purchasing an additional 13,022 shares during the last quarter. Columbia Trust Co 01012016 acquired a new position in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth about $292,000. Whitcomb & Hess Inc. boosted its stake in AbbVie by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Whitcomb & Hess Inc. now owns 2,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $385,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, PFG Investments LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 15,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,335,000 after acquiring an additional 1,110 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, CFO Scott T. Reents sold 14,140 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.44, for a total transaction of $2,509,001.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,802,413.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Scott T. Reents sold 14,140 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.44, for a total transaction of $2,509,001.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,065 shares in the company, valued at $4,802,413.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total transaction of $9,184,047.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 243,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,375,512.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 383,324 shares of company stock worth $67,780,003 in the last 90 days. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock traded up $0.73 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $181.08. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 564,663 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,615,272. The stock has a market cap of $320.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.58. 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 one year low of $130.96 and a one year high of $182.89. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $174.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $157.81.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $14.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. AbbVie had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 162.28%. AbbVie’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.60 EPS. On average, analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.15 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 227.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on ABBV shares. William Blair upgraded AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Barclays lifted their target price on AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Raymond James lifted their price target on AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, HSBC cut AbbVie from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $167.00 to $156.00 in a report on Monday, December 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $177.43.

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.