Securian Asset Management Inc. Sells 2,718 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Securian Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 94,975 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,718 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $16,877,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Great Lakes Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 872,059 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,965,000 after purchasing an additional 9,957 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 23,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,119,000 after acquiring an additional 1,358 shares during the last quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $358,000. Knuff & Co LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 7,894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,403,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,922,000 after acquiring an additional 1,119 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,202,751.92. The trade was a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 value of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,439 shares of company stock valued at $11,377,057 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on ABBV. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Guggenheim raised their target price on AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America raised their target price on AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Five research 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 data from MarketBeat, AbbVie currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.45.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE:ABBV opened at $213.71 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $189.16 and a 200 day moving average of $187.73. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $218.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $377.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (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 period in the prior year, the business posted $2.79 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 273.33%.

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.