Financial Counselors Inc. Sells 6,119 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Financial Counselors Inc. lessened its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 470,188 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,119 shares during the period. AbbVie accounts for 1.2% of Financial Counselors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $83,552,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of AbbVie during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Trading Down 3.8 %

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $201.12 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $153.58 and a 1 year high of $218.66. The company has a market cap of $355.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.80, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $195.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $188.78.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted 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 net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.79 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 273.33%.

Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total value of $3,853,399.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,496 shares in the company, valued at $2,338,401.36. This trade represents a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ABBV. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Erste Group Bank raised AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on AbbVie from $224.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial lifted their price target on AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.45.

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.