Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV Trims Stock Holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV trimmed its holdings in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 49.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,003 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,955 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,488,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 1.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 79,067,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,614,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267,685 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 3.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,630,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,691,732,000 after buying an additional 511,470 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in AbbVie by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 10,175,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,009,542,000 after acquiring an additional 582,953 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of AbbVie by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,330,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,842,642,000 after acquiring an additional 373,802 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of AbbVie by 1,745.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,728,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $933,698,000 after acquiring an additional 4,471,806 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at AbbVie

In related news, SVP Kevin K. Buckbee sold 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.24, for a total transaction of $310,032.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of ABBV stock opened at $193.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.64, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $341.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.42, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $178.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $186.04. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.58 and a fifty-two week high of $207.32.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 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 257.91%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.79 EPS. Analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Leerink Partnrs raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Argus raised AbbVie from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $191.00 price objective on shares of AbbVie in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on AbbVie from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AbbVie has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.35.

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.