Sandy Spring Bank Has $6.31 Million Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Sandy Spring Bank lessened its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 35,493 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,106 shares during the period. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $6,307,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,147,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $424,014,000 after acquiring an additional 6,810 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 2,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $397,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,487,363 shares of the company’s stock worth $491,204,000 after acquiring an additional 273,078 shares in the last quarter. United Bank bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the 3rd quarter worth about $217,000. Finally, BIP Wealth LLC boosted its stake in AbbVie by 25.9% during the 3rd quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 2,894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $572,000 after purchasing an additional 595 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on ABBV shares. Bank of America increased their target price on AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.45.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value of $6,070,159.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,985,223.60. This trade represents a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,338,401.36. This trade represents a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,639 shares of company stock valued at $11,067,025 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of ABBV opened at $212.21 on Thursday. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $153.58 and a 1 year high of $218.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $193.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $188.48. The stock has a market cap of $374.62 billion, a PE ratio of 88.42, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the firm earned $2.79 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is 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.