South Street Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

South Street Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 8.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,714 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,247 shares during the quarter. South Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,259,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ABBV. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE:ABBV opened at $214.45 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $378.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 89.35, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $191.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $188.18. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $153.58 and a 12-month high of $218.66.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the business posted $2.79 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. AbbVie’s payout ratio is 273.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ABBV. Leerink Partnrs upgraded AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets cut AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AbbVie news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was 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 directly owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,985,223.60. The trade was a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. The trade was a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.