Westpac Banking Corp Lowers Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Westpac Banking Corp lowered its holdings in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,185 shares of the company’s stock after selling 63 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $3,409,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in AbbVie by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,012,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Disciplined Investors L.L.C. bought a new position in AbbVie in the 4th quarter worth about $217,000. OneAscent Financial Services LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 10,272 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,825,000 after purchasing an additional 1,490 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in AbbVie by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 531,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,388,000 after purchasing an additional 6,943 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intrepid Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in AbbVie by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Intrepid Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,652 shares of the company’s stock worth $294,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ABBV shares. Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America boosted their price target on AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Erste Group Bank raised AbbVie to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price (up previously from $218.00) on shares of AbbVie in a research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.45.

AbbVie Price Performance

Shares of AbbVie stock opened at $201.31 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $200.28 and its 200 day moving average is $189.30. AbbVie Inc. has a one year low of $153.58 and a one year high of $218.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $356.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.79 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 273.33%.

Insider Activity

In other AbbVie news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 18,944 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.41, for a total transaction of $3,853,399.04. Following the completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $1,143,466.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,381 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders have sold 113,471 shares of company stock worth $23,426,451 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

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.