Ifrah Financial Services Inc. Decreases Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Ifrah Financial Services Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,121 shares of the company’s stock after selling 198 shares during the quarter. Ifrah Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,443,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. GGM Financials LLC increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.7% in the third quarter. GGM Financials LLC now owns 6,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Dillon & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in AbbVie by 0.8% during the third quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 6,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,362,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in AbbVie by 0.8% during the third quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 7,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,383,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. First Bancorp Inc ME grew its holdings in AbbVie by 2.6% during the third quarter. First Bancorp Inc ME now owns 2,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $442,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, Carr Financial Group Corp grew its holdings in AbbVie by 1.1% during the third quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 5,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,041,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total value of $310,032.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $193.00 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market cap of $341.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $178.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $186.03. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 257.91%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.79 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ABBV shares. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Wolfe Research began coverage on AbbVie in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $205.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $191.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.35.

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.