Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. Sells 8,200 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 190,800 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,200 shares during the quarter. AbbVie comprises about 1.3% of Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $33,905,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.3% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,147,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $424,014,000 after buying an additional 6,810 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 20.3% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 2,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $397,000 after buying an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 12.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,487,363 shares of the company’s stock worth $491,204,000 after buying an additional 273,078 shares in the last quarter. United Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the third quarter worth approximately $217,000. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the third quarter worth approximately $8,169,000. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total transaction of $3,853,399.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at $2,338,401.36. The trade was a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ABBV shares. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.45.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $211.54 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $193.80 and its 200-day moving average is $188.64. The stock has a market cap of $373.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. AbbVie Inc. has a twelve month low of $153.58 and a twelve month high of $218.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.79 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

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.