Jeffrey Ryan Stewart Sells 58,832 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Stock

AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total transaction of $12,359,426.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 53,234 shares in the company, valued at $11,183,398.72. This represents a 52.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

AbbVie Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE ABBV opened at $204.93 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $362.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.39, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $218.66. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $199.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $189.22.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the business posted $2.79 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 273.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised their price target on AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target (up from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.45.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AbbVie

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 35.8% in the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in AbbVie by 41.3% in the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,448,000 after buying an additional 15,550 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 39,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,011,000 after acquiring an additional 3,439 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,067,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,614,329,000 after acquiring an additional 1,267,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sky Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC now owns 42,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,590,000 after acquiring an additional 3,936 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.