Procyon Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Procyon Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 30,188 shares of the company’s stock after selling 924 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $4,678,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Goepper Burkhardt LLC lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Goepper Burkhardt LLC now owns 3,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $567,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Vantage Consulting Group Inc grew its position in AbbVie by 4.2% in the second quarter. Vantage Consulting Group Inc now owns 1,667 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Syntax Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 4.2% in the second quarter. Syntax Advisors LLC now owns 1,667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. First Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 18,125 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,809,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,859 shares of the company’s stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of ABBV traded up $0.64 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $180.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 408,494 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,612,548. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $130.96 and a one year high of $182.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $174.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $157.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $320.47 billion, a PE ratio of 66.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.87.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $14.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.02 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 162.28% and a net margin of 8.95%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.60 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.15 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is 227.11%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total transaction of $9,184,047.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 243,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,375,512.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Scott T. Reents sold 14,140 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.44, for a total value of $2,509,001.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,065 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,802,413.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total transaction of $9,184,047.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. HSBC lowered AbbVie from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $167.00 to $156.00 in a report on Monday, December 18th. Finally, William Blair upgraded AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $177.43.

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.