GW&K Investment Management LLC Sells 7,294 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

GW&K Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 313,487 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,294 shares during the quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $55,707,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AbbVie in the third quarter worth about $999,000. Saturna Capital Corp raised its stake in shares of AbbVie by 486.1% in the 3rd quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 676,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,531,000 after acquiring an additional 560,808 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 41.3% in the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,448,000 after purchasing an additional 15,550 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in AbbVie by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 39,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,011,000 after purchasing an additional 3,439 shares during the period. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in AbbVie by 23.5% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 56,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,169,000 after purchasing an additional 10,768 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ABBV. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Daiwa America lowered AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.35.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at $4,429,199.90. This trade represents a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,751.92. This represents a 20.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.0 %

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

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued 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 earned $2.79 EPS. On average, analysts expect 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 issued 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 payout ratio is presently 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.