Southeast Asset Advisors LLC Sells 414 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Southeast Asset Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 12,983 shares of the company’s stock after selling 414 shares during the quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,307,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Groupama Asset Managment grew its holdings in AbbVie by 40.3% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 38,974 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ABBV shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Erste Group Bank raised AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.45.

AbbVie Stock Performance

ABBV opened at $186.58 on Monday. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $200.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $189.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $330.06 billion, a PE ratio of 77.74, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $218.66.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $2.79 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 273.33%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,429,199.90. The trade was a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the 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 completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.