AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Sold by Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC lessened its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 9.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 157,575 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,081 shares during the quarter. AbbVie comprises about 1.9% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $28,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Groupama Asset Managment raised its holdings in AbbVie by 40.3% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 135,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 38,974 shares in the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in AbbVie by 4,140.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 212 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie during the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

ABBV traded down $1.82 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $176.68. 1,727,803 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,453,002. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $179.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.34. AbbVie Inc. has a 12 month low of $153.58 and a 12 month high of $207.32. The stock has a market cap of $312.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $14.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.28 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 244.01% and a net margin of 9.22%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.95 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.96 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.71%. This is a positive change from AbbVie’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 227.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,751.92. The trade was a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ABBV. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of AbbVie from $215.00 to $211.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Daiwa America lowered shares of AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price objective on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.50.

AbbVie 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.