Mechanics Financial Corp Sells 252 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

Mechanics Financial Corp decreased its position in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,298 shares of the company’s stock after selling 252 shares during the period. Mechanics Financial Corp’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $1,475,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at $4,459,385,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth $1,190,951,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in AbbVie by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,436,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,875,401,000 after purchasing an additional 3,599,336 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in AbbVie by 35.9% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,687,472 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,008,867,000 after purchasing an additional 1,503,875 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in AbbVie by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 173,072,078 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,754,908,000 after buying an additional 1,424,237 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group upped their target price on AbbVie from $181.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered AbbVie from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Daiwa America downgraded AbbVie from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AbbVie presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.45.

AbbVie Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE ABBV opened at $205.12 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $197.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $189.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.66. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $153.58 and a 52-week high of $218.66. The company has a market capitalization of $362.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.61.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last issued its quarterly 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 296.28%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.79 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 273.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total transaction of $6,070,159.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,985,223.60. This represents a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares in the company, valued at $4,429,199.90. This trade represents a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 54,639 shares of company stock valued at $11,067,025. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.