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

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 26,894 shares of the company’s stock after selling 940 shares during the period. AbbVie makes up approximately 1.4% of Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $4,779,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABBV. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in AbbVie by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 17,246,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,064,773,000 after acquiring an additional 3,373,156 shares during the period. Seven Mile Advisory increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 2,777 shares of the company’s stock valued at $493,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Colrain Capital LLC purchased a new position in AbbVie in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,754,000. Summit Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 19.1% during the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 47,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,484,000 after acquiring an additional 7,664 shares during the period. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AbbVie by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 3,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $697,000 after acquiring an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $205.12 on Monday. 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 fifty-two week low of $153.58 and a fifty-two week high of $218.66. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $197.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $188.91. The stock has a market cap of $362.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm earned $2.79 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 currently 273.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on ABBV. UBS Group boosted 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. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on AbbVie from $212.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.45.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total transaction of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,338,401.36. This trade represents a 62.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at $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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 54,639 shares of company stock worth $11,067,025. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.