Granite Investment Partners LLC Cuts Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Granite Investment Partners LLC lowered its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 47.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 47,436 shares of the company’s stock after selling 43,029 shares during the period. Granite Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $8,429,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 35.8% during the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 41.3% during the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,448,000 after acquiring an additional 15,550 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 9.5% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 10.1% during the 4th 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. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 25,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,523,000 after purchasing an additional 3,654 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $174.90 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The firm has a market cap of $309.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $218.66. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $200.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $188.49.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a return on equity of 296.28% and a net margin of 7.59%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.79 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders 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 yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 273.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on ABBV. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of AbbVie from $239.00 to $241.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup raised their price objective on AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim boosted their target price on AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total transaction of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. This trade represents a 62.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,429,199.90. The trade was a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.