CENTRAL TRUST Co Sells 2,634 Shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

CENTRAL TRUST Co reduced its stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 229,796 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,634 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for approximately 1.2% of CENTRAL TRUST Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in AbbVie were worth $48,147,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Crestline Management LP lifted its stake in AbbVie by 438.4% during the fourth quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 35,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,275,000 after purchasing an additional 28,753 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in AbbVie by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,367,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,664,489,000 after purchasing an additional 108,993 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its stake in AbbVie by 35.8% during the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. AXA S.A. lifted its stake in AbbVie by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 971,893 shares of the company’s stock worth $172,705,000 after purchasing an additional 125,568 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keystone Financial Group lifted its stake in AbbVie by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Keystone Financial Group now owns 17,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,190,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,832 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.08, for a total value of $12,359,426.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 53,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,183,398.72. This trade represents a 52.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AbbVie Stock Down 2.9%

Shares of NYSE:ABBV opened at $185.41 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $327.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 44.14. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $163.52 and a 12-month high of $218.66. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $184.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $187.59.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $13.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.91 billion. AbbVie had a return on equity of 412.03% and a net margin of 7.31%. AbbVie’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.31 EPS. Analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ABBV shares. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $194.00 target price on shares of AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. BNP Paribas upgraded AbbVie to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on AbbVie in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $210.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI upped their target price on AbbVie from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of AbbVie from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AbbVie currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.29.

AbbVie 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.