Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA Sells 13,165 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA reduced its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 46.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,984 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,165 shares during the quarter. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,663,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,604,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in AbbVie by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 5,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $997,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Intrust Bank NA grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 23,127 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,110,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 4,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $734,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AbbVie Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $205.12 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $197.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $189.02. AbbVie Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.58 and a 52 week high of $218.66. The company has a market cap of $362.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. 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 earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.79 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 273.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total transaction of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. The trade was a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025 in the last ninety days. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABBV has been the topic of several recent research reports. Daiwa America cut shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group upped their price target on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.45.

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.