Meridian Wealth Management LLC Sells 2,589 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 72,289 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,589 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $12,846,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mission Wealth Management LP raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 47,753 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,486,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares during the last quarter. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 61.8% in the fourth quarter. Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $417,000 after buying an additional 896 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 26,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,126,000 after buying an additional 2,214 shares during the last quarter. Investment Partners LTD. increased its position in shares of AbbVie by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 17,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,056,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. lifted its position in AbbVie by 424.3% in the 4th quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. now owns 21,239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,774,000 after acquiring an additional 17,188 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,751.92. This trade represents a 20.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total transaction of $6,070,159.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,985,223.60. The trade was a 40.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 56,439 shares of company stock worth $11,377,057. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on ABBV shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of AbbVie from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Leerink Partners upgraded shares of AbbVie from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $206.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.35.

AbbVie Stock Up 2.0 %

ABBV stock opened at $209.07 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $184.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $186.91. The stock has a market cap of $369.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.11, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.58. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $153.58 and a twelve month high of $209.60.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly 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 in the previous year, the company posted $2.79 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

AbbVie Company 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.