AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) Shares Sold by Shoker Investment Counsel Inc.

Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 23,086 shares of the company’s stock after selling 306 shares during the quarter. AbbVie makes up 1.4% of Shoker Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $4,102,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ABBV. State Street Corp boosted its position in AbbVie by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,067,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,614,329,000 after buying an additional 1,267,685 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 26,693.1% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,176,754 shares of the company’s stock worth $209,109,000 after purchasing an additional 1,172,362 shares in the last quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt purchased a new position in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at $186,431,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in AbbVie by 6.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 10,175,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,009,542,000 after buying an additional 582,953 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Saturna Capital Corp lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 486.1% during the 3rd quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 676,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,531,000 after buying an additional 560,808 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $205.06 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $362.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50 day moving average of $183.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $186.85. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $207.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last released its quarterly 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.79 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors 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 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.35.

AbbVie Profile

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.