Archford Capital Strategies LLC Cuts Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Archford Capital Strategies LLC decreased its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,315 shares of the company’s stock after selling 266 shares during the period. Archford Capital Strategies LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $944,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter worth about $39,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on ABBV shares. Guggenheim lifted their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of AbbVie to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $226.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. 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 MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were 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. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $170.05 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $175.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.77. The stock has a market cap of $300.51 billion, a PE ratio of 59.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $153.58 and a 12 month high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.08. AbbVie had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 244.01%. The business had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.95 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This is a boost from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.86%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is presently 227.78%.

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.