Insider Selling: AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) EVP Sells 58,832 Shares of Stock

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total value of $12,359,426.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,183,398.72. This trade represents a 52.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

AbbVie Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:ABBV traded down $1.34 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $204.93. 9,245,950 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,757,069. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $218.66. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $198.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $189.11. 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 firm has a market cap of $362.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.39, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced 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 business earned $2.79 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders 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 dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 273.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AbbVie

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA lifted its position in AbbVie by 5.3% during the first quarter. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA now owns 10,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,277,000 after acquiring an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. Marotta Asset Management boosted its position in AbbVie by 4.2% during the first quarter. Marotta Asset Management now owns 1,780 shares of the company’s stock valued at $352,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co of the South increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 2.6% during the first quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 5,676 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,189,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Modus Advisors LLC now owns 24,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,165,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M1 Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at $229,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ABBV. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research 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 lifted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.