Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Sells 43,548 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. trimmed its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,340,318 shares of the company’s stock after selling 43,548 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for 3.1% of Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned 0.19% of AbbVie worth $593,575,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. GGM Financials LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. GGM Financials LLC now owns 6,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,362,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 6,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 7,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,383,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Physicians Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in AbbVie by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. now owns 12,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,159,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carr Financial Group Corp grew its holdings in AbbVie by 1.1% in the third quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 5,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,041,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ABBV. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial upped their price target on AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Argus raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $191.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.35.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,751.92. This represents 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 through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total value of $6,070,159.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,985,223.60. This trade represents a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,439 shares of company stock valued at $11,377,057 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Price Performance

NYSE:ABBV opened at $211.27 on Tuesday. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $212.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $185.08 and a 200 day moving average of $187.04. 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 capitalization of $372.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.79 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 273.33%.

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.