Tufton Capital Management Sells 690 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Tufton Capital Management cut its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 59,460 shares of the company’s stock after selling 690 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for about 1.9% of Tufton Capital Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Tufton Capital Management’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $9,215,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. KB Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in AbbVie in the first quarter valued at approximately $45,000. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in AbbVie during the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 39.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 286 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total value of $9,184,047.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other AbbVie news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total transaction of $3,716,756.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,855,698.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were 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 approximately $42,375,512.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003 in the last three months. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James upped their price objective on AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. William Blair upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, 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 report on Monday, February 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $177.43.

AbbVie Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of ABBV stock traded up $1.89 on Thursday, hitting $166.14. 1,502,688 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,595,890. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $294.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.96 and a fifty-two week high of $182.89. The business has a 50-day moving average of $175.79 and a 200 day moving average of $159.94.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly 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. AbbVie had a return on equity of 162.28% and a net margin of 8.95%. The firm had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.60 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.17 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

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 $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.73%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is currently 227.11%.

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.